By Gary Fauber
Register-Herald Assistant Sports Editor
GLEN DANIEL — Liberty finished with a 7-20 record last season, and coach J.J. Tabor isn’t sure how good this year’s mark will be. But, he’s banking on the Raiders being a better team come May. Tabor, in his second year at Liberty, made a concentrated effort on improving the regular season schedule. He figures the team will take its share of lumps, but the trade off, he hopes, will be worth it. “Last year I kind of felt like we had a lot of games that I’m not sure how ready they were getting us for the sectionals,” Tabor said. “So I went in and made some calls and got (the scheduled) beefed up the best I could.” The Raiders will take on Nitro in the Wildcats’ tournament and will play Virginia power Tazewell in the annual Coppinger Tournament. There is also a doubleheader at Point Pleasant, in addition to games against local powers Independence and Oak Hill. “When it comes right down to it,” Tabor said, “all the (regular season) games are just practice games. If we see all that pitching from those schools, it should get us ready for the quality opponents we have in our section.” The Raiders are 1-0 after a 6-5 win last week over previously unbeaten Fayetteville. They won that game without a single senior on the field. “We had four sophomores, two freshmen and three juniors in the lineup,” Tabor said. And the results were good. Junior pitcher Dylan Clay got the win and Jerry Toney pitched out of two bases-loaded jams for the save. And junior Michael Muovich eased Tabor’s mind at shortstop. After Brandon Toler, last year’s starter, transferred to Point Pleasant, Tabor was unsure what to do about the position. After seeing Muovich play against Fayetteville — he and Jacob Perdue turned a double play that ended a Pirate threat in the sixth — Tabor is OK now. Muovich could possibly see time on the mound, but his defense could prove too valuable. “He would pitch a lot more if it didn’t hurt us so bad defensively,” Tabor said. Clay will be the ace of the staff. He was 3-6 last year. “He was our ace last year and saw all of the big teams, so that is kind of misleading,” Tabor said. Liberty will get a shot in the arm this week with the return of seniors Zac Acord (catcher) and Jacob Shea (first base). Both were academically ineligible until Friday. Shea will be the No. 2 or 3 pitcher, along with sophomore Corey Dishmon. Adding a bit of youth to the mix are freshmen Austin Lyons and Joey Lacek. Lyons will start in center field in place of senior Jeremy Holder, who is academically ineligible, while Lacek will play a utility role, getting time in right field, first base and behind the plate. Liberty will host Summers County at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
