Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – It was a bit of deja vu for Liberty High.

For the second year in a row the Lightning reached the state tournament and just like last year, the top-ranked Johnston Dragons awaited them.

“A lot of people don’t realize how hard it is to get here,” first-year Liberty High coach Uby Martinez said after the eighth-seeded Lightning were eliminated by the Dragons, 9-3, in a Class 4A state quarterfinal game Tuesday at Duane Banks Field. “Kids are starting to see that, ‘Hey, if you’re going to have a chance, you have got to throw strikes and get clutch hits. I think our guys are starting to feel it a little bit. They weren’t nervous this time at all. They were very confident. The practices were phenomenal, so I think that is just kind of the expectation right now. I think they see that there is a method to it. It takes a little bit of luck and a lot of execution, a lot of preparation. And I think they see that.”

Liberty High (23-18) displayed its confident mindset early with a run in the top of the second inning that opened the scoring in the contest.

Mason Gardner led off the frame with a walk and was immediately doubled home by fellow senior Luke Mayer for a 1-0 Lightning lead.

But true to its status as the defending state champion, Johnston was always ready with a response.

The Dragons matched the run in the bottom half of the inning and broke the game open with a four-run fourth.

“They do all the little things,” Mayer said. “They are good at basically everything. They have been put in tough situations and they know how to deal with those situations. That is why they are always in the state tournament. That is what makes them one of the top teams in the state.”

Mayer finished the game with two doubles, the aforementioned RBI and a run scored.

The first baseman is scheduled for “Tommy John” surgery on his right arm in a week, then reports to Simpson College in the fall to play baseball.

Mayer and Gardner are two of 10 seniors on the Liberty High roster – including fellow Tuesday starters in center fielder Luke Ramsey and second baseman Braden O’Connor – that began their careers with unprecedented virus restrictions in 2020 and exit with the first two state tournament appearances in the program’s six-year history.

“It is really cool,” Mayer said. “Getting to state is an achievement. Getting to state twice is sometimes unheard of for people. I really hope that the next guy’s learned a lot and we’ll be back here again.”

For the second time in two years, Liberty faced Des Moines Area Community College recruit Carter Woollums on the Johnston pitching mound.

Woollums (8-2) posted 10 strikeouts and allowed five hits and three runs in six innings for the Dragons (34-6), which will face fourth-seeded West Des Moines Dowling (27-11) in a 4A state semifinal Thursday at 5 in a rematch of last season’s state championship game.

“The fact that they get here so many times is a testament to what their culture is and how well they are coached and prepared,” Martinez said. “They do a phenomenal job. We knew it was going to be tough to get one here.”

Gardner reached base twice and scored both times.

Junior Jackson Khamphilanouvong delivered a pinch-hit single in the sixth inning that scored Gardner and Mayer and briefly pulled the Lightning within 6-3.

Khamphilanouvong, his twin bother Jayden and fellow returners such as leadoff hitter Ryan Schmierer, third baseman Cooper Hughes, right fielder Carter Meyers, center fielder Liam Bender and a pitching staff that loses just six of its 41 starts on the mound – led by sophomore Mason Waterbury and junior Nolan Sojka – should be more than enough to keep Liberty a contender.

“We’re going to have a lot of returning people next year,” Khamphilanouvong said. “We’re going to hopefully break through that barrier of the first round and try to do great things next year.”

Liberty High               010  002  0  –  3  5  0

Johnston                      010  413  x  –  9  11  1

W – Carter Woollums         L – Mason Waterbury

2B – ICL: Luke Mayer 2.  JON: Sam Hesselman 2, Adam Kayko, Sam Kemmer

3B – JON: Blake Lundholm

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