Create your own luck they say.

It’s a common phrase you hear every now and then, but it’s one that was applicable to Liberty’s baseball team this past spring.

The Hurricanes run to last Thursday’s state championship came to an end, falling to Warwick 6-4 at Penn State in the 6A finale.

And while it may appear the ‘luck’ ran out on achieving the ultimate dream of winning a state title, Liberty’s historic 2022 season was anything but lucky.

The team set a single-season record with 26 wins and paced themselves through a daunting state bracket with a roster of only four seniors to reach the pinnacle stage.

A District 11 championship also came along for the ride in what head coach Andy Pitsilos summarized as his best season in 19 years at the helm of the program.

“It’s really been an unbelievable season,” said Pitsilos. “We graduated seven of nine starters from a year ago and had five new pitchers. The kids worked real hard and we were fortunate to have them learn on the fly and still win games. It’s the most amount of wins we ever had [in a season] and this is the deepest we’ve ever went, so this season is at the top of anything I’ve been apart of at Liberty. It was great to have so many people show their support for us. It really was a special year.”

After coming home empty last season of any hardware after dominating the regular season, the Hurricanes reloaded with a revamped roster this spring and pushed through playoff elimination games with a youthful mentality that helped harness their greatness through a special postseason run.

First it was a 1-0, nail-biting victory over Manheim Township in their state opener, followed by a comfortable, 10-2 victory over defending state champion LaSalle College, followed by a rousing, 4-2 win over a loaded Hazleton squad in the semifinals.

Warwick finally was able to slow Liberty’s roll, building a 6-0 lead before a 111-minute rain delay breathed new life into Liberty’s state championship dream. The ‘Canes scored four unanswered runs and had the tying runs at the plate twice in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn’t manufacture that last play to even things up.

Warwick, which finished 23-2, lost in their opening round of the state tournament a year ago and returned plenty of familiar faces to this year’s squad.

Pitsilos hopes that this experience can pay dividends for Liberty next spring when a junior group consisting of Reece D’Amico, Tommy Mason, JC Spinosa, Ayden Zabala and Tate George return, along with sophomores Noah Gyauch-Quirk, Braylen Gonzalez and Jacob Rivera.

“We beat three college pitchers in the state tournament and that’s tough to replicate in practice or during the season,” Pitsilos said. “When you’re going against kids that can throw 90 mph, it’s not easy. The experience of playing against those types of pitchers and the quality of teams gets a little easier the more you see it. You hope that can pay dividends next year, but baseball is different unlike any other sport where these are single elimination games. You never know when you’re going to run into a pitcher that can end your season.”

That’s what makes Liberty’s run this season memorable and special despite coming home with silver medals. Lehigh Valley teams are now 1-7 in state finals, with Catasauqua’s 1997 state title still standing as the lone gold medal coming from a PIAA diamond.

The difference with most of those teams that suffered state championship defeat was that they weren’t able to run it back the next year.

After achieving what nobody thought they could this year, you can be sure that all of Liberty’s players and staff know what they’re capable of next spring.

And with a little luck along the way, maybe even more.