Liberty rallies past Coronado for baseball win

Liberty baseball coach Nick Didier set one goal before the season: make the playoffs for the first time in school history.

The Patriots took a step in the right direction on Tuesday.

Liberty rallied from a four-run deficit to down visiting Coronado 6-5 to move to 2-1 in the Southeast League.

“Winning a one-run ballgame for a team like us is big because it shows we can compete with anyone in town,” Didier said. “We consider Coronado one of the elite teams in town, and for them to come here and for us to do what we think we’re supposed to do at our yard, it was really big for us.”

The Cougars (8-5, 2-1) scored twice in the third inning on a two-run double by Chris Blake. Coronado added two more runs in the fourth on an RBI triple by Cody Howard and a throwing error.

But Liberty (7-2) didn’t fold, finally getting to Coronado starter Dylan Myers in the fourth.
Myers retired the first 10 batters he faced on just 25 pitches before yielding a sharp single up the middle to Danny Topps.

Michael Vargas followed that with a bloop single to center. The Patriots didn’t have another hit in the inning, but an error, two passed balls and a run-scoring groundout helped them cut Coronado’s lead to 4-3.

Myers then ran into trouble in the fifth and was lifted after allowing a single and a walk with one out. Kenny Oakley came on and struggled with his control. He walked the first three batters he faced, though he did pick a runner off first. Then Liberty freshman Josh McCollum delivered a two-out, two-run single to right to give the Patriots a 6-4 edge.

“We threw him into the fire, and he’s done a great job so far with the bat,” Didier said of McCollum. “We just hope that he keeps improving into the good player that we know he can be. We know he’s here for a reason.”

Coronado’s Taylor Giordano hit a two-out solo homer to left in the seventh followed by a single by Jordan Scott.

But Nate Bennett got Howard to fly out to center to end the game.

Bennett allowed a run on three hits in three innings of relief to get the win.

Dillon Fahr went 2-for-2 with a run for Coronado.