The Lions rolled to an early 5-1 record, which pleased coach Nick Ferreira and the players.
Then came a big blow to the team. Jason Smith, at home as catcher, relief pitcher and outfielder, broke his finger and with it, the Lions' winning ways.
"He was one of the key players on our team and it was a major loss," Ferreira said. "He could do it all and was a clutch hitter at the plate.
"Jason's loss seemed to hit us right away. Where we were winning close games, we started to lose those and our defense suffered at times.
"However, we remained confident and consistent, but we started to lose those one- and two-run games and slide in the BVAL standings. We have to turn that around if we hope to get an at-large bid to the North Coast Championships."
The string of losses after the big start came in narrow defeats at the hands Alameda, Antioch, Deer Valley and Clayton Valley.
Then last weekend, Clayton Valley (5-2 BVAL) shut out the Lions 4-0 on a one-hitter.
Earlier in the week Liberty appeared to have turned it around when it won the consolation final in the Alhambra Easter Classic after two victories following a loss.
Zack Yoder has taken the catching duties from Smith and demonstrated he can handle the chores during a bunting drill Monday.
The players were happy that the field had finally dried out and for only the second time in more than a month they were able to take batting practice from the home plate area.
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