Liberty rallies for win in American Legion Western Regional

Pinch runner Giovanni Battistoni scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error in the bottom of the eighth inning as Liberty rallied to defeat Helper (Utah) 4-3 on Friday in the second round of the American Legion Western Regional in Surprise, Ariz.

Liberty (31-3) faces Petaluma (Calif.), a 9-6 winner over Fort Collins (Colo.), at 6 p.m. Saturday. Liberty and Petaluma are each 2-0 in the tournament.

“We haven’t had to come from behind a lot, but we have a team that never thinks they’re out of it,” Liberty coach Mike Eshragh said. “It took awhile to get going, but finally the kids made the adjustments and came through the last two innings.”

Liberty scored three times in the seventh inning to tie the score 3-3. Josh McCollum capped the comeback with a single to left that scored Griffin Kelly.

Kelly knocked in Liberty’s first run with a single, and Nicholas Rush had a sacrifice fly.

“It seemed like nothing was working at the plate the first six innings,” Eshragh said. “Once we tied it, the energy went back up, and we knew we had a chance to win it.”

In the eighth, Michael Vargas led off with a walk, and Battistoni replaced him. The next batter, Jay Martz, laid down a perfect bunt that Helper third baseman Ridge Nielson threw into right field, allowing Battistoni to score from first base.

Vargas and Jesse Keiser each finished 2-for-3 for Liberty. Martz, Kelly and Preston Pavlica each went 2-for-4.

Jordan Mellen was 3-for-4 and drove in all three runs for Helper. Mellen had RBI singles in the first and fifth innings and a run-scoring double in the seventh off Liberty pitcher Nate Bennett.

Bennett pitched the distance, scattering nine hits and striking out seven.

“We knew we had to win a close, gut-check game like this to win this tournament,” Eshragh said. “Now, we’re exactly where we want to be.”