The Liberty baseball team turned to some well executed small ball to pad their lead over Frankford in the bottom of the fourth inning Thursday.

The Hurricanes then used some power ball to finish off the Pioneers and emphatically punch their ticket to the state semifinals.

A pair of two-run doubles from Jared Burcin and Gabe Albino helped break open the game and senior pitcher Alex Laudenslager took care of the rest as Liberty pummeled District 12 champ Frankford in the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals at Spring-Ford High School.

This is what weve worked for. This is what weve been trying to do all season, Burcin said. We finally got our bats back. Everyone started hitting the ball a little bit more. We started taking more pitches and doing our thing.

For the first time since 2002, the Hurricanes (25-3) advanced to the PIAA semifinals set for Monday against District 1 champ Pennsbury at a site and time to be determined. The Falcons beat Perkiomen Valley 3-0 in another quarterfinal after outlasting Parkland 2-1 (11 innings) in the first round.

Laudenslager cruised through Frankfords lineup, allowing just two singles (only one of which left the infield) while striking out six and walking none. He retired the final 10 batters he faced in order.

My command was working well and I was hitting my spots, Laudenslager said. The first inning felt really good. I knew I was on.

Leaning on a solid curveball to complement his fastball command, Laudenslager faced just two batters over the minimum.

A two-hit shutout in the state quarterfinal is amazing, Liberty coach Andy Pitsilos said.

From the first pitch to the final out, the Hurricanes outplayed the Pioneers with heads-up base running, timely hitting, smart pitching and slick defense including a diving grab by first baseman Mike Perreault in foul territory for the second out of the seventh inning, which was just a cherry on top of the sundae at that point.

While Liberty had developed a flair for the dramatic of late, winning its last three games before the quarterfinal in its final at-bat, it spared the crowd any nail-biting on Thursday.

After an RBI double from Jake Morgan in the second inning and an RBI single from Burcin in the third inning, the Hurricanes entered the fourth holding a 2-0 lead that soon exploded into 8-0.

Senior designated hitter Jake Wagner, who had scored in the second inning when he jump-started a two-out rally, provided another spark as he led off the fourth with an infield single. Morgan then dropped down a sacrifice bunt and with the third baseman making the play, Wagner kept his head up and took third base with nobody covering.

I dont think they were aware of what were capable of, Wagner said. We just took advantage of their mistakes and went from there.

After sophomore Antonio Zabala, a newcomer to the starting lineup in place of an injured Elias Gross (back), made it runners on the corners with a bunt single, senior Kyle Hlavaty cashed in with an RBI single to left field for the 3-0 lead.

One out later, Burcin returned to the dish with runners on second and third and ripped a two-run double to right field.

Sammy Kraihanzel then drew a walk, knocking out Frankford starter Nick Herrera and Perreault greeted the new pitcher by drawing another base on balls to load the bases.

Albino made the walks hurt as he came up next and roped a two-run double down the left field line to make it 7-0.

Its fundamental baseball with a little hitting added in there, Pitsilos said. Its all the kids. Theyre extremely disciplined kids and theyve been like that all year. Although we preach that, its very, very hard to find players that are that good at the plate. Its a testament to them. A lot of them are seniors and they have a lot of experience. Great kids.

Perreault later scored on a wild pitch for the eighth and final run.

The Hurricanes are now headed where no other Liberty team has gone since 2002: the states final four. The 2002 squad made it all the way to the PIAA Class 3A final before falling to Moon 3-2.

This years group isnt ready to be done just yet.

Its just something coach Pit, everyone and the Liberty community is proud of, Burcin said.

Weve been together for a while and we knew it was coming, Laudenslager added.

Said Wagner: Its amazing. I (wouldnt) change it for the world. I dont even know how to describe it, its breathtaking.

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No drama this time as Liberty baseball flies into PIAA semifinals - lehighvalleylive.com