Undefeated Lisbon set to collide with HLV in Class 1A district final

LISBON — Scoreless and behind after two innings, a player on the Lisbon baseball team shouted, 'Second time through the lineup!'

A second look at Lone Tree pitcher Avery Knock and his defense resulted in an offensive explosion for Lisbon.

'It's contagious, all those hits,' Lisbon Coach Travis Bennett said after No. 2 Lisbon scored 13 unanswered runs and routed Lone Tree in five innings, 13-3, in a Class 1A district semifinal Thursday night at Lisbon City Park. 'They seem to come in bunches for us, which is a great thing.'

Trailing 3-0, Lisbon sent 13 batters to the plate in the bottom of the third inning, bashed eight hits and scored nine runs. Senior Brett Givens collected an RBI double and a two-run triple in the third inning, scored twice and later added an RBI groundout.

'The first time through the at-bat everybody was out in front,' Givens said. 'Second time through, everybody knew to stay back. That's all it takes. We're never out of it.'

Junior Hagen Waters scored two runs and posted three hits, including an RBI double in the third inning and a leadoff home run in the three-run fourth inning, his fifth this season.

'We're a relaxed team, we're confident,' Waters said. 'We know we'll get our bats going.'

As the Lisbon hitters began to put up big numbers, senior left-handed pitcher Austin Krob took the mound in relief of junior starter Cobe Siebrecht with one out in the third inning. Krob (9-0) retired eight of the nine batters he faced, including six strikeouts.

'I've come in a couple of times to help get out of the inning quick,' said Krob, a Kirkwood recruit who also drove in a pair of runs in two third inning at-bats with a double and a single. 'I've just got to work the (strike) zone right away.'

Lisbon senior Bryce Werderman had an RBI single in the third inning, scored twice and got the final run across the plate with a groundout to the shortstop.

Knock fell to 2-5 on the mound with the loss, while sophomore Harmon Miller drove in two runs for Lone Tree, which ends its season at 10-18.

Lisbon (32-0) is the only remaining undefeated team in the state. It will host a district final on Saturday at 7 against HLV, which rallied from a 5-0 deficit and eliminated Highland, 8-6.

'Our kids play well together, they have a lot of fun together,' HLV Coach Wes Warwick said. 'Once they just kind of realized that they need to settle down, take a deep breath and just play it because it is a game. It is nothing more than that and just have some fun. Once they figured that out, our bats got a little hot and we got those five back and then that really just carried us through it. We came together as a team.'

HLV (20-6) tied the game with five runs in the bottom of the second inning. A two-run single by HLV sophomore Caden Fontinel with one out in the bottom of the fourth gave the Warriors the lead for good.

'I just knew that I had two runners in scoring position,' Fontinel said. 'I could hit a fly, but I didn't want to. I wanted to score those runs because we needed them. I was taking anything I could get.'

After yielding four hits and five runs in the first two innings, HLV senior pitcher Mitchell Thys improved to 8-0 this season by holding Highland hitless over the next three frames.

'Mitchell is just a great competitor,' Warwick said. 'That was an unusual start for him. He usually is pretty effective. We just stuck with him because we knew he could do it. When he is on the mound, everybody believes we can win.'

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