By Rob Potter
LIBERTY–April 26, 2002 — The Liberty offense began hitting the ball and scoring runs in the first inning of Tuesday’s non-league game versus visiting Roscoe.
And the Indians continued to hit well and score at least one run in each of the innings that followed.
By the end of the game, Liberty (3-6) had recorded 14 hits in a 18-0 victory over Roscoe (3-5).
Another key for the Indians in their win was pitcher Mike Salvia. The junior hurler allowed only one hit and struck out nine Blue Devils on the afternoon.
Dan Park recorded the only Roscoe hit when he ripped a two-out single to center field in the top of the third.
“That was his first complete game varsity win,” Liberty Coach Jim O’Connor said of Salvia’s performance. “I thought he did a great job out there today.”
Setting the theme for the game, Liberty’s Ashton Richards led off the bottom of the first with a single and subsequently stole second base. He scored the Indians’ first run when the next batter, Dan Ratner, hit a bloop single to center.
Ratner scored later in the frame when Adam Masatori singled. Three batters later, Jason Garrett was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run and make it a 3-0 game.
Roscoe pitcher Brian Ballard prevented any further damage, however, as he got Salvia to hit a pop fly to end the inning.
But in the second inning, the Indians picked up where they left off.
With one out and two runners on, Randy Caruso smashed a triple to center field to extend the Liberty lead to 6-0. Moments later, Caruso scored on a passed ball to give the Indians a 7-0 advantage after two innings of play.
The Indians added three runs in the third, two in the fourth, five in the fifth and one in the sixth.
Leading the offense were Ratner, who went 3-for-5 with three RBI, and Caruso, who was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI.
“Our bats came alive today and we made the routine plays (defensively),” O’Connor said.
Despite the lopsided defeat and a 12-7 non-league loss to Sullivan West the previous day, Roscoe Coach Gregg Wormuth is optimistic about the Blue Devils’ upcoming games.
“We’ll battle back in our league games next week,” Wormuth said. “We’ve got to stay positive and stay focused.”