Best in the state! Liberty North beats Blue Springs South for 1st baseball championship
The Liberty North Eagles rode big innings to the program’s first Missouri state championship in high school baseball on Saturday at the U.S. Ballpark in Ozark.
The 11-5 final score represented Liberty North’s third — and most important — victory over its Suburban Conference Gold Division rival of the 2022 season/postseason.
Liberty North (33-9) got started in the second inning when senior first baseman Landon McGinness doubled in the first run of the game. Ty Wisdom, the Suburban Big 8 Player of the Year who will play for the Kansas Jayhawks next season, singled in two more.
A hit batsman and walk forced in the final two runs of that frame.
Facing the Jaguars’ bullpen in the third, senior Frankie Palma, Jackson Downing and McGinness hit consecutive doubles and McGinness scored on a wild pitch as the Eagles increased their lead to 8-1.
The Jaguars (26-11) got one back in the fourth on an RBI single by sophomore Collin Dobson, but Liberty North tacked on two more in the bottom half — the second on Palma’s hard-hit single through the gap into right — and it was 10-2 entering the fifth.
Blue Springs South continued to battle, with sophomore third baseman Grant Hollister tripling in a pair of runs and the Jaguars plating a third to make it 10-5.
Liberty North junior Jack Lemasters drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth to account for the Eagles’ final run of the afternoon, and season.
Liberty North reached the championship game with a trio of walkoff victories, beating Raymore-Peculiar 7-6 in the state quarterfinals and Francis Howell 4-3 in a 10-inning Friday semifinal.
Timely hitting was on Liberty North’s side when it mattered most this spring.
McGinness belted a bottom-of-the-seventh grand slam to force extras in the Eagles’ eight-inning victory over Ray-Pec to send Liberty North to the Class 6 final four. And they won the district championship on Tate McGuire’s walkoff against Liberty.
McGuire, a junior who has committed to playing in college for the Arkansas Razorbacks, was the winning pitcher on Saturday. He worked five innings before handing off to the Eagles’ bullpen.
Blue Springs South had also won some close games to reach Saturday’s state championship showdown, edging Kickapoo 4-3 in the quarterfinals and Lindbergh 2-0 in Friday’s semifinals, overcoming a double-digit strikeout performance from Lindbergh ace Dane Bjorn.
Earlier on Saturday, Francis Howell (33-9) shut out Lindbergh 11-0 for the Class 6 consolation title. Lindbergh finished the season 19-17.
It’s the second year in a row that a team from Liberty has hoisted the Class 6 state championship trophy. Last June 5, the Liberty Bluejays won the title with an 8-4 decision over Ft. Zumwalt West at U.S. Ballpark.
CLASS 6:
Semifinals: Friday
Blue Springs South 2, Lindbergh 0
Liberty North 4, Francis Howell 3, 10 inn.
Saturday’s games
Consolation final: Francis Howell 11, Lindbergh 0
Championship: Liberty North 11, Blue Springs South 5
CLASS 5:
Semifinals: Friday
Festus 4, Willard 3, 8 inn.
Platte County 5, Ft. Zumwalt East 3
Saturday’s games
Consolation final: Willard 7, Ft. Zumwalt East 3
Championship: Platte County 6, Festus 1
CLASS 4:
Semifinals, Wednesday
Logan-Rogersville 11, Kennett 1
Southern Boone 6, Marshall 5
Thursday’s games
Consolation final: Kennett 13, Marshall 3
Championship: Southern Boone 8, Logan-Rogersville 3
CLASS 3:
Semifinals, Wednesday
Springfield Catholic 11, Valley Park 0
Father Tolton 6, Lawson 3
Thursday’s games
Lawson 10, Valley Park 3
Championship: Father Tolton 8, Springfield Catholic 4
CLASS 2:
Semifinals: Monday
Portageville 6, Gainesville 0
Russellville 3, Plattsburg 2
Tuesday’s games
Cons. final: Plattsburg 13, Gainesville 5
Championship: Russellville 5, Portageville 3
CLASS 1:
Semifinals: Monday
Oran 6, Northeast (Cairo) 3
St. Elizabeth 10, South Nodaway 10
Tuesday’s games
Cons. final: Northeast 9, South Nodaway 3
Championship: St. Elizabeth 9, Oran 2
This story was originally published June 4, 2022 at 3:22 PM.