LHHS wins championship in new coach’s first season

BY SCOTT AKANEWICH SPORTS EDITOR

When Brandon Creek arrived to take over the Liberty Hill baseball program this year after having served as the head coach at Class 6A Stony Point for the past six seasons, it didn’t take long for the Panthers’ new dugout boss to get to know his players.

Creek had already seen many of them play at various youth and select levels over the years as he coached son Brandon up through the ranks.

“It was a huge advantage,” said Creek. “My son was a senior this year and I got to see a lot of our players grow up.”

From there, it was simply a matter of figuring out how to put the puzzle together, he said.

“Once practice started, we just needed to get them as many reps as possible,” said Creek. “Seeing live pitching and learning what guys can do in certain situations –that was the biggest thing going into the preseason.”

Fast-forward to season’s end and the Panthers finished with an overall record of 24-9 and a 10-4 result in the district standings, which earned them a share of the league championship – Creek’s first of his coaching career.

Unfortunately, the campaign ended with an opening-round defeat to Champion when the Panthers dropped the first two contests in a best-of-three Class 5A state playoff series.

However, there were still plenty of positives to glean from a season that was challenging at times – primarily due to injuries that saw critical cogs out of the lineup.

Not the least of which was the senior middle-infield combo of shortstop Brandon Creek and second baseman Ty Maldonado, who both missed a majority of the season, including the entire district schedule.

As a result, Creek was left to plug young players into the Panthers lineup such as sophomores Pearson Lowery and Andrew Basey, among others over the course of the season.

Despite the absences, though, a core of experienced players still remained, most notably in the form of seniors Carson Riley, Logan Dyer, Kade Neuenschwander and Chase Maxwell, along with junior Blaze Milam, who was already in his third season on the varsity squad.

Looking ahead, the Panthers will lose 10 seniors to graduation, which means the ranks will need replenishing in 2024.

“I feel like offensively we had a pretty good year – we hit over .300 as a team – it was just about getting hits at the right times,” Creek said.

“This is a good place to be – good parents and a good community,” he said. “Coming here, I didn’t know a whole lot about Liberty Hill, but I did know it’s a place that’s committed to doing what’s best for kids.”

Young decided to focus strictly on United States Tennis Association (USTA) play outside of school in the fall, then returned to her high school teammates for the spring season.

“I play very offensively and aggressively and attack everything,” said Young. “When I was younger, it was the opposite. My coaches would tell me to hit the ball harder, but now I can with accuracy. Also, I think my competitiveness has a lot to do with it.”

Upon advancing to the state tournament in San Antonio, though, Young was defeated in the first round by Ella Wertz of Wakeland, 6-1, 6-3 – a loss she chalked up to perhaps letting the enormity of the situation get to her, but a mistake she won’t make again, she said.

“My goal is to win state next year,” she said. “All I need to do is keep practicing and do a better job of handling my emotions on the court.”