It was a run like no other. Somewhat expected though.

The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and District 11 baseball communities knew the Liberty High School baseball team was one of the best in the area in 2023, coming off a district title the year before. The Hurricanes proved their might during a dominant postseason run, which included five mercy-rule, double-digit victories on their way to their second straight district championship last week.

Liberty, the second seed in the EPC tournament, took down Bethlehem Catholic 12-2 in the quarterfinal round, Nazareth 12-2 in the semifinals and then top-seeded Parkland 10-0 in the championship game. Entering districts as the first seed, the Hurricanes continued right where they left off, beating Northampton and then the Trojans, both 13-3, to take districts. They outscored their opponents by a total of 60-10 overall.

“I think we knew we were the best team in the [Lehigh] Valley from the beginning of the season until right now,” said senior JC Spinosa. “It was just a matter of letting the season take its course and letting the season show it. It feels great. Hopefully, we can continue to play well and make a run in the state playoffs.”

In the latest game, the district final win over Parkland, Liberty had three big innings and limited the Trojans to just one big inning, on its way to a five-inning victory last Wednesday night at DeSales University’s Weiland Park.

After a scoreless first inning of play, Spinosa came through with the game’s first crucial hit. With the bases loaded and two outs, he hit the first pitch he saw just inside the foul line and to the wall in left field, clearing the bases with a three-run double. Reese D’Amico then had an RBI single in the next at-bat to push the lead to 4-0.

Parkland responded in its next at-bats in the top of the third to the tune of three runs, all of the scoring it had during the game. With the bases loaded, Matt Razzis brought home a run with a sacrifice fly, and Wanamaker followed with an RBI hit. Bo Barthol later crossed home thanks to an error to make it 4-3.

The Trojans also threatened to tie or take the lead in the top of the fourth, putting runners on the corners with two outs, but John Galgon induced a fly out to left field to end the frame and keep the score at 4-3. In the bottom-half of the inning, the Hurricanes got some insurance thanks to a three-run inning, highlighted by a Spinosa RBI sacrifice fly and RBIs by Franklin Pichardo and Ayden Zabala for a 7-3 advantage.

Liberty then took full control of the game and put it away in the bottom of the fifth, batting around in the lineup, sending 10 hitters to the plate and scoring six runs. Spinosa, once again, had a big hand in the rally, lacing an RBI triple for his third hit of the night and fifth RBI.

“Last year, I felt like I struggled a little bit in the playoffs,” Spinosa said. “Coming into this year, one of my biggest focuses was to show up when it matters the most. You live for moments like that, bases loaded, two outs, you want to come through for your guys. I look forward to stuff like that and I want to be in those situations.”

Liberty (20-4 overall) enters the state tournament carrying a ton of positive momentum. They were the state runners-up last season, making a run to the final. They are looking to do the same this season, and it started off well as the Hurricanes defeated Avon Grove 6-5 in nine innings in the first round this past Monday night back at DeSales. They now advance to meet North Penn in the state quarterfinals on Thursday.