Bellevue Wolverines pitcher Gavin Baker was extremely efficient in a 1-0 victory against the Liberty Patriots on the baseball diamond.

Baker unveiled a complete-game gem, scattering seven hits while allowing no runs in seven innings of work on hill. Baker completed the shutout victory with a minuscule 63 pitches on the bump. Bellevue head coach Tate Seefried said Baker’s performance was outstanding following the game.

“We really needed that. That was a huge boost to us to get back on the winning track. He (Baker) pounded the zone, they put the ball in play and we made a lot of great defensive plays. That is all you can ask from your pitcher,” Seefried said.

Bellevue improved its overall record to 4-4 with the win while Liberty dropped to 4-5. With the score tied at 0-0 in the top of the fifth inning, Bellevue catcher Will Moore made a signature play that changed the momentum of the game. With Liberty runners at second and third with two outs, Moore unleashed a laser beam throw down the third baseline after a Baker pitch toward the plate. Liberty’s runner on third base was caught off the bag and Bellevue’s third baseman tagged him out to end the inning, quelling Liberty’s best opportunity to score a run at that juncture of the contest.

“That was a huge play,” Seefried said of Moore’s heady throw to third base. “Those are the kind of plays that you need. We were in a situation where there were two outs and they had runners on second and third. A lot of things have gone wrong for us in the first seven games and that play right their might had just turned something around for us and got us on the winning side. That play put confidence in all of the guys.”

Bellevue answered the bell in the bottom of the fifth when John Enger connected with a bloop single between Liberty’s second baseman, shortstop and centerfielder, scoring Bellevue’s Reagan Teegarden from second base to give Bellevue a 1-0 lead. Seefried, who is also Bellevue’s third base coach, originally held Teegarden at third base on the play but changed his mind after seeing Liberty’s centerfielder bobble the ball.

“I’m bringing him (Teegarden) to score all the way. To me, it looked like he fielded the ball, I was stopping him and then he came up and the ball dropped so I continued to send him,” Seefried said of the game-winning run. “Luckily we got the run in. Those are some of the gambles you have to take as a third base coach. We got the run and we got the win today.”