Pavlica powers Liberty baseball before leaving with injury

Preston Pavlica left the field early Thursday with an injured quadriceps. But the Liberty senior did plenty of damage while he was in the game.

Pavlica was 2-for-2 with a two-run homer and two runs, and the Patriots held on for a 4-3 road win over Silverado.

“He’s our guy,” Liberty coach Garrett Kohler said. “That’s one of our top players, and we rely on him a lot.”

Pavlica put the seventh-ranked Patriots (14-5, 3-0 Northeast League) on the board early with the two-run homer in the first that landed in the street beyond the left-field fence.

He then scored a key run in the third when he singled with one out, stole second and scored on a two-out single to right by Omar Ortiz.

Pavlica played center field in the third, but didn’t take the field in the bottom of the fourth because of the injury.

“It’s been bothering him, and we’ve got a season to think about,” Kohler said. “That was a big steal, but that’s where he hurt it. We ended up really needing that run. Hopefully it doesn’t cost us him. But I think he’ll be fine.”

Liberty tacked on a run in the sixth when Ortiz led off with a double to right and scored on a single by Jacob Klein.

“He’s a junior, and he’s going to be a horse next year, I think one of the better hitters in town,” Kohler said of Ortiz, who was 2-for-3. “He hit that double; that was a big one. Omar, he’s been one of our top hitters all year, and he was big in this one.”

Liberty starter Bailey Daguio threw six strong innings, allowing one run on seven hits. He struck out five and walked one. The only run No. 9 Silverado scored off Daguio came on a groundout after two infield singles.

“Daguio has been one of our best pitchers,” Kohler said. “He’s one of our horses. He’s got a heavy fastball; he throws strikes, works fast. He’s one of our guys that we ride.”

Daguio gave way to Klein in the seventh, and Silverado made things interesting. After striking out the leadoff batter, Klein walked Chase Cortez and allowed a single to Vincent Taormina. Michael Camburn then reached on an infield single to load the bases.

Payton Ballard hit a potential double-play ball to short, but second baseman Lucas Bogues couldn’t complete the play and his throw went into the dugout, letting two runs score and putting runners at second and third with two outs.

Klein got James Skelly to fly out to right to end the game.

“I knew that they were going to come back,” Kohler said. “They’re well coached, and they’re a scrappy team. We didn’t feel comfortable with a three-run lead.”

Taormina was 2-for-4 for the Skyhawks (14-6, 2-1).

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters.