After facing the gauntlet of Tri-River Athletic Conference teams, Madera Coyotes baseball coach Andy Underwood needed a little break.
While not taking the Liberty Hawks for granted, the Coyotes picked up a 6-1 victory in Mel Parker Field in preparation for the upcoming County/Metro Athletic Conference schedule.
The Coyotes took Liberty a little too easy in their last meeting in 2019 where Liberty picked up a 4-0 victory.
Friday was a different story when the Coyotes scored a run in the first, two more in the third and added three more runs in the final three innings for the win.
Meanwhile, Liberty, who started North Sequoia League play a couple of weeks ago, closed out its non-conference schedule against the Coyotes. This year, the Hawks, a Div. IV team, has played Div. I Clovis, Div. I Clovis West, Div. II Fresno, Div. III Selma, Div. I Clovis East and now Div. II Madera.
The Hawks won just one of those games, but battled within a couple of runs against Clovis, Madera South and Clovis East.
Madera got on the scoreboard in the first inning. With one out, Evan Candelaria drew a four-pitch walk. Isaac Flores hit a drive to right-center for a double to drive in Candelaria.
Liberty starter Nathen Medina was having trouble finding the strike zone. In the first three innings, he walked two and hit a batter. He threw 63 pitches, but 28 were balls.
Madera added two more runs in the third. Nathan Palacioz led off with a double down the left field line. Isaiah Monge beat out a sacrifice bunt for a single.
Logan Wattenbarger hit a short chopper and Palacioz tried to score, but he was tagged out at the plate.
Adam Arias followed with a double to the left-centerfield gap to drive in Monge and Wattenbarger for a 3-0 lead.
Liberty broke the shutout bid in the fourth. Freshman McGuire Smith led off the rally with a single to left and advanced to second on an error.
After a popout, Medina singled up the middle to put runners at first and third.
Dylan Whitman, on a full count pitch, singled to right to drive in Smith and advanced Medina to third. The inning ended in a double play, but the Hawks got on the scoreboard.
Madera added three runs over the final three innings to close out non-conference play with a 6-1 victory.