Layne Bent’s two-out single in the bottom of the seventh drove in Reed Sparrow with the winning run as Liberty walked off West Prairie/Southeastern 4-3 Friday in Liberty.
It was the regular season finale for both teams as the Cyclones fell to 12-12-1 for the season.
The Eagles took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning.
WP/SE starter Hudson Riebling walked Dylan Hocking to lead off the frame. Riebling struck out Evan Sims before Hocking stole second and Sparrow followed with an RBI-double to center for a 1-0 lead.
Gavin Edgar then hit a ground ball to Matt Whitman at short, but Whitman mishandled the ball, allowing Sparrow to score and Edgar to advance to second.
A walk to Beau Luaders was followed by a single from Bent to load the bases with only one out. But Riebling settled down and struck out Will Fessler and Brody Klauser to escape further damage.
The Cyclones would tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the third.
Eli DeCounter singled off of Liberty starter Jack Wietholder who then walked Ivan Beck to put runners on first and second.
Holden Coplan sacrificed both runners into scoring position but Wietholder hit Whitman with a pitch to load the bases. Braden Coplan was retired on a fly ball to left for the second out, but Austin Nelson lined a single to right to drive in DeCounter and Beck to even the contest with Whitman advancing to third.
Following a walk to Riebling to load the bases again, Wietholder struck out Case Marlow to end the inning.
Liberty regained the lead with a run in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Hocking before WP/SE answered in the top of the fifth.
Holden Coplan led off with a single before Braden Coplan was retired on an infield popup. Wietholder walked Matt Whitman to put runners on first and second, but a passed ball allowed both runners to move up to second and third. Nelson promptly delivered a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Coplan and make it 3-3.
Liberty got the winning rally started in the bottom of the seventh against Marlow, who came on in relief of Riebling in the fifth.
Marlow hit Sims with a pitch to lead off and Sparrow followed with a single to center to advance Sims to third with nobody out.
Edgar struck out before Sims was picked off as Beck threw to Nelson for the tag and the second out, but Sparrow was able to advance to second.
That set the stage for Bent’s heroics as the Eagles ended their regular season with a 13-11-1 mark.
Wietholder was the winning pitcher after going six innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on just three hits while striking out nine and walking three.
Marlow took the loss after giving up one run on four hits in 2.2 innings of relief. Nelson led the WP/SE offense by going 1-for-3 with three runs batted in.
The Cyclones will now prepare for the Illinois High School Association Class 1A Regional which got underway Monday.
WP/SE enters regional action as the No. 6 seed in the Camp Point Central “A” Sub-sectional and will take on No. 3 seed Havana (17-8-1) on Thursday in a semifinal contest at Abingdon.
Regional play started Monday when No. 10 seed South Fulton (5-20) headed to Stronghurst to face No. 7 seed West Central (7-19).
Monday’s winner advanced to Wednesday’s semifinal at Abingdon against No. 2 seed Abingdon-Avon (17-8).
The semifinal winners will play for the regional title in Abingdon on May 30 at 11 a.m.
