By Chris Parker
Liberty baseball enters the second season with Richie Jester as head coach looking for the program’s first double-digit win season since 2010.
Last year, the speedy Eagles won six games by causing havoc on the basepaths. Jester will look for that trend to continue this season.
“Last year as a team we shattered the school record for stolen bases as a team (102) from the previous (65) and had a player break the season individual stolen base record (26),” Jester said. “We put a premium on base running, and putting pressure on defenses, but in a controllable manner. We will continue to grow in that area as we still have a lot of speed on the team. We will also be working to hit throughout the line-up and play solid defense across the board.”
Six starters and nine lettermen return.
The pitching staff will be anchored by Gavin Reese (senior), Parker Holden (senior), Tytus Jester (junior) and Tucker Thomas.
The two seniors will be key.
“We will go as far as our senior leaders take us,” Coach Jester said.
Reese threw 21 innings with 59 strikeouts and a 2.84 ERA last season. He hit .429 with a 1.293 OPS including seven doubles, 11 RBI and 17 runs scored and 19 stolen bases.
Holden led the team with 41.1 innings pitched striking out 32 and posting a 2.88 ERA. He hit .208 with 17 runs scored and 17 stolen bases.
Behind the plate will be a committee featuring Reese, Tytus Jester and Easton Smotherman.
The lineup around the field is not set in stone, as the Eagles focus on building fundamentals.
“My goal is to have a fundamentally sound team and build from there,” Coach Jester said. “For the first time in a long time, we will have a more mature team of upperclassmen.”
Liberty will host a tournament Mar. 21-22 to open the season.
“We want to be more in the win column then the losing column and do it in a way that makes our school and community proud,” Coach Jester said. “We are trying to change the face of baseball at Liberty High School. It has not been a priority here over the last few decades. We are putting in lots of work to improve our field, and to the concept of actually playing a competitive brand of the game. Last year, we were able to do some big things as a team and had some individuals achieve some greatness, but we still need to fight to become a team with a tough mentality and learn to depend on each other. We lost five or six games by one run or in the final innings, or even in extra innings. If we learn how to fight to the end of those games it completely changes not just our record, but the future of Liberty baseball.”
