Liberty defense struggles in 11-5 loss at Hamshire-Fannett

HAMSHIRE — It wasn’t the bottom of the fourth inning the Liberty Panthers had in mind on Tuesday night at Hamshire-Fannett.

The top of the fourth inning was just fine as the Panthers put up five runs. The bottom half of the inning was the problem as six Liberty errors led to nine Longhorn runs in an 11-5 loss in district 19-4A play.

Scoreless heading into the top of the fourth inning, the Panthers got the bats going. Grady Silva singled and then Kade Jordan reached on an error.

Kody Sandefur walked to load the bases. Leyton Kirkland then singled to score Silva to make it 1-0, but on the play, Jordan was thrown out at the plate for the first out of the inning.

Gage Pavliska followed with a single for another run and the lead was 2-0. Peyton Fregia followed with a double, making it 3-0. Caden Mullinix then lined a pitch down the right field line to plate two more and Liberty was leading 5-0.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Panthers defense committed six errors, leading to nine Hamshire- Fannett runs and a 9-5 deficit after four innings of play.

The Longhorns added two more runs in the fifth inning to make it 11-5, eventually putting the game away.

Casper Eckols got the start for Liberty and pitched into the fourth inning.

Eckols finished with three strikeouts and allowed just one hit while not giving up an earned run on the mound. Cade Carter and Pavliska also pitched for the Panthers.

Silva and Pavliska finished with two hits each for Liberty at the plate.

The Panthers will host Hamshire-Fannett at home on Friday night.