Patriots on TRAC
| Wednesday, May 20 2009 10:57 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Jul 15 2009 08:28 PM
Wednesday's local Central Section baseball scores:
Division I
No. 6 Liberty 4, No. 11 Madera 1
No. 7 Fresno-Central 12, No. 10 Bakersfield 3
Division II
No. 1 Visalia-El Diamante 15, No. 16 Garces 5
No. 3 North 11, No. 14 Tulare Union 0
No. 12 Tulare Western 9, No. 5 West 4
No. 6 Frontier 8, No. 11 Fresno-Sunnyside 5
No. 10 Visalia-Golden West 18, No. 7 East 10
Division III
No. 5 Madera South 3, No. 12 Cesar Chavez 1
No. 7 Dinuba 7, No. 10 Golden Valley 4
No. 9 Tehachapi 10, No. 8 Ridgeview 8
Division IV
No. 6 Taft 4, No. 11 Porterville-Granite Hills 2
No. 7 Chowchilla 8, No. 10 Wasco 7
Wednesday's local Central Section baseball scores:
Division I
No. 6 Liberty 4, No. 11 Madera 1
No. 7 Fresno-Central 12, No. 10 Bakersfield 3
Division II
No. 1 Visalia-El Diamante 15, No. 16 Garces 5
No. 3 North 11, No. 14 Tulare Union 0
No. 12 Tulare Western 9, No. 5 West 4
No. 6 Frontier 8, No. 11 Fresno-Sunnyside 5
No. 10 Visalia-Golden West 18, No. 7 East 10
Division III
No. 5 Madera South 3, No. 12 Cesar Chavez 1
No. 7 Dinuba 7, No. 10 Golden Valley 4
No. 9 Tehachapi 10, No. 8 Ridgeview 8
Division IV
No. 6 Taft 4, No. 11 Porterville-Granite Hills 2
No. 7 Chowchilla 8, No. 10 Wasco 7
Images
Casey Christie / The Californian Liberty's Austin Davis slides safely into third baseman for Madera High, Alex Catanesi, Wednesday, at Liberty during game action in the first round of D-1 playoffs.
Casey Christie / The Californian Liberty's Kevin Younger made a sacrifice bunt, to advance a teammate from second to third during a game Wednesday against Madera High during the first round of D-1 playoffs in Bakersfield.
Casey Christie / The Californian Liberty's catcher, Ross Hough gets ready to tag out Madera's runner, Anthony Catanesi, at home plate during a game at Liberty in the first round of D-1 playoffs.
Casey Christie / The Californian Karate students with T.R. Tae Kwon Do wait in the wings Wednesday evening to audition for the 2009 Kern County Fair entertainment lineup. Left to right are Maria Taylor, Martin Romero, Kayla Alvarez, Amanda Alvarez, Kylie Garcia, Amber Lozano, (clapping), and Stephanie Cruz, right.
Casey Christie / The Californian Liberty's Kevin Younger made a sacrifice bunt, to advance a teammate from second to third during a game Wednesday against Madera High during the first round of D-1 playoffs in Bakersfield.
Casey Christie / The Californian Liberty's Austin Davis slides safely into third baseman for Madera High, Alex Catanesi, Wednesday, at Liberty during game action in the first round of D-1 playoffs.
Casey Christie / The Californian Liberty's catcher, Ross Hough gets ready to tag out Madera's runner, Anthony Catanesi, at home plate during a game at Liberty in the first round of D-1 playoffs.
Casey Christie / The Californian Liberty's Kevin Younger attempts a sacrifice bunt in Wednesday's game against Madera High in Bakersfield. He successfully advanced the baserunner to third.
Facing yet another Tri-River Athletic Conference team in the Central Section baseball playoffs, Liberty's veterans kept quiet this week.
And, even after topping Madera and ace Hayden Hinkle 4-1 at home Wednesday in the first round of the Division I bracket, the Patriots still aren't doing much talking.
"We didn't want to give them too much credit," Liberty senior Jordan Howard said. "We have a lot of young players, and us talking about it might intimidate them. It'll be the same thing on Friday. We're not going to talk about it -- just go up there and know that we're going to beat them."
Howard limited 11th-seeded Madera to an unearned run on three hits and No. 6 Liberty advanced to the Division I section quarterfinals, where it'll face another TRAC team -- No. 3 Clovis. TRAC teams have knocked the Patriots out of the playoffs each of the past four years.
"You know what, it doesn't matter who we play," Liberty coach Tony Mills said, proceeding to list some state powers the Patriots (22-10) have met in the past few years. "Doesn't matter if we play Oceanside, doesn't matter if we play Poway, doesn't matter if we play the state champion from Utah. We're going to show up and play."
Madera (10-18) came in as the last-place TRAC team, but the Coyotes were dangerous because of Hinkle. The big senior right-hander -- who was co-TRAC player of the year as a sophomore -- struck out seven and allowed just four hits to Liberty on Wednesday.
"I'm telling you right now, that guy is as good as anybody in the section," Mills said. "I was concerned."
But Madera's defense let Hinkle down. First Hinkle himself overthrew first base on a bunt attempt, allowing Austin Davis to score the game's first run in the third inning. Then in the fifth, a dropped pop-up and a booted ground ball opened the floodgates.
With runners on the corners and two outs, Chris Neal bounced a 1-2 pitch throught the left side of the infield to score Davis. Then, sophomore Cody Bryan raked a first-pitch fastball off the wall in left, bringing home two more runs.
"With a guy like (Hinkle), you have to put the ball in play and put some pressure on their defense," Mills said. "They gave us some opportunities."
Madera coach George McWherter said the Coyotes' defense has been a problem for Hinkle all year.
"Another heartbreaker for him," McWherter said. "Let's put it this way: He's 4-8 and is ERA is 1.40. You can't give a team five outs in one inning and expect to win."
Howard and the Liberty defense did the rest. Howard struck out four but walked four and hit two batters along with Madera's three hits, so there was pressure. Other than one error, Liberty's defense came through -- especially when Davis made a sliding catch in shallow right field with the bases loaded and two outs in the second.
"Without my defense, nothing would have worked today," Howard said.
Now it's on to Clovis, where a more formidable TRAC nemesis awaits. A win there, and consider the hex officially broken. Is this group of Patriots the one to do it?
"The thing about this year's team is that they believe," Mills said. "We're all in. We're a tight-knit group, and we've gotten better day after day, week after week."
