Bent’s speed, Central’s miscue allow Eagles to walk off Panthers

LIBERTY, Ill. — Layne Bent anticipated a pickoff attempt to third base, but he did not foresee what happened as a result of it.

Bent scored on a throwng error in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Liberty a 4-3 victory Saturday afternoon over Camp Point Central.

Bent, a junior outfielder for the Liberty baseball team, led off of third with two outs. The Panthers had already made multiple pickoff attempts to third base, and Central starting pitcher Briggs Wisckirchen even caught Blaine Deege for the final out of the fourth.

“They do it all the time,” Bent said. “I was expecting them to (pickoff) at least once, but I wasn’t expecting an error.”

With that in mind, Bent took his lead off third, eyes locked on Panthers reliever Garrett Neisen — who had moved from third to the mound at the start of the inning, swapping positions with Wiskirchen — prior to what would have been the first pitch to Jackson Sims. Neisen lifted his left leg, stepped toward third and fired a throw to Wiskirchen. The ball got away from Wiskirchen and bounded off the chain link fence to the outfield side of the third-base dugout and down the left-field line.

Bent popped up after a head-first dive and sprinted toward home.

“I just dropped my head and went and hoped I’d get there,” Bent said.

When Bent saw Panthers catcher Luke Ippensen casually watching the play, he had a good feeling he was in the clear.

“I just saw the catcher standing there watching it, so I knew I’d probably get there,” Bent said.

Bent, whose first name is David but goes by his middle name, tapped helmets with Dylan Hocking, who was on deck, after he crossed home plate then got mobbed by his teammates.

“(Hocking) was like, ‘Atta boy, Davie,’” Bent said. “That’s what they like to call me instead of Layne.”

If it wasn’t for Bent’s hustle on multiple previous plays, he may not have been in position to score the winning run.

Bent reached on an infield single after hitting a slow roller to Wiskirchen leading off the eighth inning. Bent then took second on an errant pickoff attempt to first base and advanced to third on Gavin Edgar’s groundout. Bent had to hold at third on Henry Gibbs’ groundout to third for the second out prior to his mad dash home moments later.

“He knows how to use his feet,” Eagles coach Travis Ruppel said of Bent. “He’s been tracking balls really well out in center, and he found a way to get it done on the basepaths today.”

Frustrated with the outcome, Central coach Jordan Tenhouse commended his players for trying to make something happen on that final play.

“It happens,” Tenhouse said. “Whether it was a bad throw or we just closed our glove a little too early on it, took our eye off of it, whatever it was. That play helped us out early in the game. I just liked that our guys were trying to execute things like that, and they’re doing that on their own. It just means they’re in the game, they’re with each other and they’re playing as a team. That’s good to see.”

Edgar, the Eagles’ starting pitcher, summed up his emotions after Bent crossed the plate.

“Thank the Lord,” Edgar said.

That relief stems from the Eagles’ tough luck in recent games and the fact that they let a two-run lead slip away in the seventh inning on Saturday. Before a victory over Payson Seymour on Thursday, the Eagles had lost three consecutive games by one run, including a 6-5 loss to Central on Wednesday.

“Last time we played them, I had an error and I kind of felt like it was on me, so it was a little redemption today,” Edgar said.

Edgar got his redemption by pitching six innings of one-run ball on Saturday while striking out seven, walking two and giving up four hits before giving way to Jack Sparrow in the top of the seventh.

Following a Nate Peters walk and Colton Cooley single with one out in the seventh, Wiskirchen doubled to drive both runners and tie the game at three. Sparrow struck out the next two batters, then only allowed a two-out single in a scoreless eighth.

“The biggest thing for Jack was he just needed to get a little more loose,” Ruppel said. “Sometimes in high school ballgames, you don’t have that opportunity when you’re coming in from short. It’s like, ‘OK, hurry up and go get ready.’ He responded well. He’s got a special arm.”

Ruppel said Sparrow has benefitted from sharpening his mental toughness.

“His maturity this year has really shown,” Ruppel said. “I saw it on the basketball court this year. He had a little bit more of that aggression and bulldog mentality, and he’s showing that for our entire team this year.”

Wiskirchen worked around six walks and five hits to only allow three runs, two of which were earned, and also went 2 for 4 at the plate. Edgar had three hits and was the only Eagle with multiple hits.

Two other games were plaued at Liberty High School on Saturday. Petersburg PORTA beat Central 8-2 before Liberty won again in walk-off fashion 5-4 over the Bluejays in the third and final game. Jackson Sims delivered a walk-off single with one out in the bottom of the seventh, driving in Sparrow to improve the Eagles’ record to 9-5. Central fell to 5-10 and has lost four of its last five games.