Cactus baseball scrapes past stingy Liberty in first meeting

The first varsity matchup of Cactus and Liberty on a baseball diamond did not go according to form.

Sure, the 4A-I title contending Cobras brought their trademark pitching and defense. For six innings, however, they were matched by the promising but callow Lions.

Cactus (20-5, 8-1 West Valley Region) finally broke the 1-1 deadlock with two outs in the top of the seventh inning. Senior Austin Brunke walked and stole second. Senior Skylar Maestas drove him in with a single back up the middle.

"I saw what (Liberty pitcher Nathan Bannister) had during my first two at bats and knew what I had to do," Maestas said. "He likes to start with a fastball and then come in with a changeup, so I was waiting for the second pitch."

Maestas, a contact hitter with a .412 average entering the game, has played a similar role in other late-inning victories this year.

"He's just what we want out of our kids," Cactus coach Mike Tirella said. "He's a grinder."

Bannister made the Cobras grind for everything the got in the 2-1 game. In his complete game, the freshman scattered six hits and — for the most part — kept the Cactus hitters off balance and his teammates hopes high.

"I think when Banny kept us in the game for seven innings, it gave us more confidence that maybe we could hang with these guys," Liberty coach Mark Ernster said.

The only other run Bannister allowed came in the third inning, as Cactus again started its threat with two outs. Senior Colton Vaughan doubled and junior Eric Goetz brought him in with a bloop single to shallow center field.

"You've got to give their kid credit," Tirella said. "He hit his spots and mixed up things well."

As well as Bannister pitched, he couldn't quite match Cactus senior Andrew Walter, who allowed only four hits in a complete game. It was the ace's seventh victory on the season.

Liberty's only damage against Walter began with Bannister, who reached in the bottom of the fourth on a bloop of his own. Sophomore Geordan Key ran for Bannister, stealing second and reaching third on a fielder's choice. Sophomore Thomas Gillies tied the game with a sacrifice fly.

"We hung in pretty well against one of the best pitchers in the state," Ernster said.

The teams meet again at 4 p.m. Thursday, this time at Cactus' ballpark. Both coaches talked to their teams about the small mental mistakes made Tuesday, and how they can change the outcome of a game.

For Ernster's first-year varsity program, which sports a 12-7-1 record (5-4 in region play) it's part of the building process. For Tirella's team, it's time to prepare for the playoffs. Cactus has all but wrapped up the region title and a top five seed.

"A 2-1 game with a young team when we made a couple of mistakes isn't the same as a 2-1 game against a state championship level team," Tirella said. "We missed some signs. You can't make mistakes like that at state."

Maestas was even more pointed about the team's performance.

"That's not how we should play," he said. "We're usually an upbeat team, but we were lazy today."