Martz comes up big, helps Patriots secure No. 1 seed

Jay Martz knew how high the stakes were in Liberty’s regular-season finale.

A win against Basic would give the Patriots at least a share of the Southeast League regular season title and perhaps the No. 1 seed for next week’s Sunrise Region playoffs.

The right-hander played accordingly, tossing a one-hitter and adding an RBI at the plate to give the Patriots’ baseball team a 2-0 win over the visiting Wolves and a share of the league championship. Because Liberty swept No. 3-seeded Coronado, the Patriots claimed the top seed and will face Las Vegas on Tuesday.

“I knew it was important for everybody and myself, so I just went out and did my thing,” Martz said. “It’s great to win a (league championship). We’re going into the playoffs hot and we’re excited. It should be fun.”

Martz retired the first 11 batters he faced and finished with four strikeouts and one walk. He was perfect until a fourth-inning error allowed the first baserunner for the Wolves. In the seventh inning, Martz lost his no-hitter when Ryne Nelson hit a one-out single up the middle.

“Our pitcher did an outstanding job,” Liberty coach Nick Didier said. “Jay came in and did a wonderful job. I can’t say enough about him on the mound. This is his first year pitching and he’s going to UNLV next year. We think he can do great things. He’s kept the ball down and made some good pitches in timely situations. By no means is he at his best right now, but I think he’ll be great down the road.”

Liberty (24-4, 8-2) scored both of its runs in the third inning on four hits. Justin Lutes started off the inning with a single and moved to second on Eddie Thompson’s sacrifice bunt. Nick Rush then hit an RBI single up the middle to give the Patriots a 1-0 lead. Rush, who went 2-for-3, was the only player from either team to have multiple hits.

Josh McCollum and Jesse Keiser followed Rush with back-to-back singles to load the bases before Martz helped his own cause with a sacrifice fly to left.

“In the middle of our lineup we’re pretty senior-heavy,” Didier said. “We go 2-3-4-5 with seniors, and those were the guys up at that time and they produced. They’ve been in this program for four years and we finally get to hang a banner in the gym. It’s pretty special for them. I’m proud of them.

“By no means was this our ultimate goal. Yes, we wanted to win the division but we still have some work to do. There are a lot of good teams in the other division and in our region. We’ve just got to keep competing and playing defense. If we play defense, I think we may be there in the end.”

Taylor Ferdinand pitched a complete game and had three strikeouts for the Wolves (23-9, 8-2). The Wolves will host Silverado in the first round of the Sunrise Region tournament.

“Obviously losing is rough but our guys know we’re headed to the playoffs,” Basic coach Scott Baker said. “Liberty is a very quality opponent. We’re co-champions in the league so we can still say we won a league championship, but we’re just focusing on Silverado now.”