Portal's game with Liberty County was delayed 20 minutes due to rain. After the game, PHS coach Dennis Moore may have wished the rain would have continued, as the Panthers fell in a 12-1, run rule-shortened game.
The Panthers had plenty of opportunities, both in the field and at the plate. Costly walks, and errors hurt them in the field, and leaving nine men on base hurt them at bat.
Overall, Moore was understandably disappointed after the game.
“We had three bases on balls, and five errors in the first couple innings,” Moore said. “When you play like that, and dig an early hole, it makes things tough.”
The Liberty Panthers started the game hot at the plate. Liberty jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first. A walk was followed by an RBI double by Trent Gerber. That was followed by back to back RBI singles from Brett Smith and Corbin Sabin. A Portal error brought in the fourth run, and Liberty was up 4-0.
Portal came back in its half of the inning by putting the ball in play. Fisher Oglesby led things off with a double to the fence in center, followed by an RBI single to left by Keegan McCoy as the lead was cut to 4-1. Portal then loaded the bases, but a strikeout by Blake Hendrix would end the inning.
“We had a few good at bats, and got some runners on base,” Moore said. “The problem is we were unable to bring runners home. We also had a chance to get some younger kids some playing time and saw how they responded.”
Liberty added three runs in the third on back to back RBI singles by Keyton and Matt Williams, and another Portal error.
Liberty added three more runs in the fourth, and added another in the fifth. Matt Williams threw a complete game and struck out 6 Portal Panthers in notching the win on the mound for Liberty.
Portal falls to 2-5 and will host ECI Friday at 5:30 p.m.
“We can’t play like this Friday because ECI is a solid team,” Moore said. “I hope we learned a lesson tonight, and don’t do these same things in an important region game.”