Liberty softball and baseball teams kick off strong start to 2019
In softball, defense begins with a solid performance from the pitcher. If the pitcher dominates opposing batters, the team’s chances of winning will increase exponentially.
The Liberty Flames softball team’s superb pitching over its current eight-game win streak was highlighted by the Lady Flames 12-0 victory over the Princeton Tigers Feb. 24. In addition, senior Julia DiMartino became just the fourth Flames pitcher in program history to throw a perfect game, facing merely 15 batters over five innings while striking out seven in the second game of the Liberty Softball Challenge.
Flames Head Coach Dot Richardson had nothing but praise for DiMartino not just for her game against Princeton, but also for how she has performed over her career.
“She’s a superstar in her own right,” Richardson said. “When you give her the ball, she gets it done. We rely on her a lot because she can deliver.”
DiMartino only threw 54 pitches in her perfect game, with 40 of those pitches counting for strikes. DiMartino said that the pitching staff told her to pitch “backwards,” meaning she changed the normal routine of her pitches. Typically, DiMartino will rely on her first-pitch “riseballs” to get ahead in the count, but she kept Princeton batters guessing by relying on a heavy dose of curveouts and change-ups.
DiMartino also said that while she knew she had a chance for a perfect game as the contest progressed, she did not get wrapped up in the moment and stayed focused on her task at hand.
“I don’t really think about it that much,” DiMartino said. “You just go and do what you can and do it for the team, and if you get the game, you get the game.”
ROUT — The Flames defeated Maine in a March 1-3 weekend series.
Baseball
Liberty’s baseball team has been equally impressive in recent action as well. The Flames have won seven of their last eight contests, which included a dominant, 9-3 win over the No. 20 Wake Forrest Demon Deacons. In that game, right fielder Ayden Karraker made a running catch in foul territory as he flipped over a fence.
The play received national attention, ending up as the No. 1 play on ESPN’s
Top 10 Plays.
This past weekend, Liberty welcomed the Maine Black Bears to Lynchburg and swept the three-game series. First baseman Logan Mathieu drove in three runs on two hits, and Andrew McInvale and Evan Brabrand combined to pitch nine scoreless innings in a 7-0 win March 2.
Liberty followed that win with 3-2 and 7-1 victories March 2 and 3, highlighted by more stellar pitching by Garrett Price
and Noah Skirrow.
Both the softball team and baseball team will continue their action this week, with the men’s team staying in Lynchburg to host the Virginia Tech Hokies March 5 at 3:30 p.m. The softball team will travel to Long Beach, CA to play the San Diego State Aztecs in the first round of the UCLA/Long Beach State University Tournament. The first pitch is March 8 at 2:30 p.m.