Mountain Lions give Brewster Bears a 2-1 scare

BREWSTER – The Liberty Bell High School varsity baseball team came close to derailing the Brewster Bears’ undefeated league juggernaut on the Mountain Lions’ home diamond, Tuesday, April 10.
“We pulled out a close one here,” said Brewster head coach Todd Phillips of the Bears’ narrow 2-1 win. “It was fun one to coach in.”
Phillips told his team that he wanted them to challenge the Mountain Lions who came to the game undefeated at 8-0 and second in the Central Washington 2B league standings.
“Some of our guys took that to heart and we were able to get one on the board early,” Phillips said of Brewster’s 1-0 lead when Joe Taylor scored on a Corey Jarrell single in the first inning.
“A pitchers’ duel ensued for the rest of the way,” Phillips said.
Behind the pitching of Joe Taylor, the Bears were able to hold the lead until he bottom of the sixth when Liberty Bell tied the game, 1-1.
The Mountain Lions worked for that run, according to Phillips.
Peter Aspholm has about a 10-pitch at-bat that ended in a walk. Finn Holston singled to put runners on first and second,” said Phillips. “(Shay) Crandall hit a ground ball to short, we tried to turn a double play and misread the throw…and Aspholm just kept running.”
“We had a lackadaisical inning that allowed them to even it up and push his pitch count up,” Phillips said of the need to give Taylor a rest in the seventh. “That goes to show that Liberty Bell competes and that we need to be able to execute in those situations.”
In the top of the seventh inning, Taylor singled with one out and scored on a double, one of five by Quincy Vassar, to regain the lead and the win. Vassar relieved Taylor on the mound in the final inning to shut the door on the Mountain Lions.
The Bears left nine runners on base, eight of them in scoring position, said Phillips. In at least two innings Brewster had runners on second and third bases with less than two outs and could not get them across the plate.
“We struggled hitting with runners on base,” Phillips said.
A game against Cedar Park Christian in Bothell last Saturday, April 14, was rained out in the second inning, but the Bears were already up 9-2.
“We were absolutely crushing the ball,” Phillips said.
The Bears were scheduled to host the Bears for a second battle on Tuesday, April 16. Then Brewster will have a week off before traveling to Tonasket on Tuesday, April 24.