Your Prep Sports

The last two seasons have been full of firsts for the Liberty High baseball team.

Nolan Frey will never forget the Lightning’s first win over cross-town rival West High.

Frey tossed a five-inning no-hitter as Liberty High defeated Class 4A fourth-ranked West High 7-0 on Tuesday in a Mississippi Valley Conference Valley Division matchup at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids.

The junior struck out nine and walked two on Tuesday as Liberty High salvaged a season split with West High after dropping the first meeting 6-4 on Monday at Duane Banks Field.

Liberty High improved to 5-4 on the season and 4-2 in MVC play with the win while West High dropped to 7-2 and 4-2 in conference contests.

Frey allowed just three baserunners on Tuesday on a pair of walks and an error.

He didn’t allow a runner after Nick Biancuzzo reached on a two-out error in the third inning, striking out six of the final seven batters he faced.

Frey fanned the first two batters in the fourth and struck out the side in the fifth before the game was called due to Lightning.

Keian Secrist gave Liberty High a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the second inning and the Lightning tacked on a run in the second when Tyler Dahm tripled with one out and scored on a wild pitch.

Liberty High broke the game open with a four-run fourth inning aided by three West High errors.

Secrist went 2-for-3 with two runs for Liberty High while Jacob Norris had two hits and drove in two runs and Isaac Bender drove in two runs.

Noah Aanestad took the loss for West High allowing six runs, two earned, on four hits in four innings.

West High      000  000  –  0  0  3

Liberty High 011  41x  –  7  6  1

W – Nolan Frey          L – Noah Aanestad

2B – ICL: Jacob Norris

3B – ICL: Tyler Dahm

HR – ICL: Keian Secrist

West Branch Holds Off Monticello

West Branched used a nine-run second inning to take a lead and held on for a 9-8 win over Monticello on Tuesday in a River Valley cross-divisional game in Monticello.

Mitchell Knoop and Brady Lukavsky each homered during the nine-run second inning as West Branch improved to 4-1 on the season and 4-1 in RVC play with its fourth consecutive win.

Monticello dropped to 2-5 on the season and 2-3 in conference contests.

Brady Lukavsky went 2-for-4 with three RBI and Brad Hunger was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run for West Branch.

Knoop drove in two runs while Matt Whaley, Pete Espensen and Ted Bridges all drove in one.

Matt Whaley earned the win, tossing 2 1/3 innings of one-hit relief and Bridges picked up the save working a scoreless seaventh inning.

West Branch 090  000  0  –  9   9   4

Monticello      300  500  0  –  8  10  1

W – Matt Whaley                   L – Tyler Blattner       SV – Ted Bridges

2B – WB: Ted Bridges, Tanner Lukavsky. MON: Jon Mootz (2)

3B – MON: Gavin Cooper

HR – WB: Brady Lukavsky, Mitchell Knoop

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