Unchained: Bent delivers hits at the plate to put Eagles in regional title game

Published 10:42 pm Thursday, May 28, 2026

LIBERTY, Ill. — Liberty center fielder David Layne Bent did everything to help his team stay alive in the postseason.
Bent went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run in Thursday’s Class 1A Liberty Regional semifinal game, with the Eagles defeating Payson Seymour 7-3 to advance to Saturday’s regional championship game.
“I was looking first-pitch fastball,” said Bent. “I hit a slider on one of them, but I was just looking for a fastball.”
The Liberty center fielder typically goes by his middle name Layne and has never heard of Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley, his namesake, while his teammates call him by his first name, Dave.
Whatever you call him, the Liberty six-hole hitter has been delivering the hits for the Eagles.
“(Bent) went out there and he’s been clutch a lot lately,” said Liberty head coach Travis Ruppel. “He’s found his swing again, and has gotten better as the season progresses. He finds a way to put the ball in play and kick starts innings for us.”
The game didn’t start off great for Liberty, with Eagles starting pitcher Jack Wietholder plunking Indians leadoff batter Nashtyn Wright, who was singled home by Hunter Miller to give Payson Seymour an early 1-0 lead.
Liberty didn’t panic and tied the game up in the bottom of the inning when Gavin Edgar singled home courtesy runner Jake Fessler to tie the game.
“We showed great composure early in the game,” said Edgar. “We just trust our own team.”
Payson Seymour took the lead back in the top of the second when Isaiah Brass singled and later scored on an error.
The Eagles put together a big inning in the bottom of the third with Edgar driving in Dylan Hocking, Beau Luaders knocking in a run and Bent singling home Reed Sparrow.
“Really, I just wanted to put the ball in play because the bases were loaded in the third,” said Edgar. “It wasn’t really my pitch and it was kind of inside, but I just put it in play and let our runners do the rest.”
The Indians narrowed Liberty’s lead to 4-3 in the top of the fourth after Mason Haden hit a sac fly to score Ransom Zehnle.
The Eagles knew they were going to need some insurance runs, with Payson Seymour continuing to put the pressure on.
“Before the fifth inning, I walked by Coach (Dan) Sparrow and told him that I thought we were going to put up three runs there,” said Ruppel. “We were walking up there with our two, three and four hitters. I thought we had a good ability to go up and do that.”
Liberty did just that in the bottom of the fifth with Sparrow leading the inning with a double. Bent singled Sparrow home, Edgar scored on an error and Blaine Deege hit a sac fly to score Bent.
“We’re usually pretty decent about staying within ourselves, fighting back and putting some runs across the board,” said Bent. “We were just looking to put the ball in play and push across some runs.”
Wietholder earned the win on the mound after pitching four innings with seven strikeouts, while allowing four hits, one walk and two earned runs.
“Jack went out there and kept his composure out there for pitching his first regional game,” said Ruppel. “He had that composure to keep us in that ball game. Over the last two weeks, Gavin has figured out what was going on with his pitches and found a way to battle.”
Although Edgar did not get any punchouts, he pitched three scoreless innings in relief and only allowed two hits.
“I just pitched to contact,” said Edgar. “I wasn’t trying to do too much. I just let our fielders do the work.”
Indians starting pitcher Nolan Sparks was tagged with the loss after going three innings with four strikeouts, and allowing four hits, two walks and four earned runs.
Payson Seymour’s Raulin Zenhle pitched two innings in relief and had three strikeouts, while allowing three hits, no walks and three earned runs.
Payson Seymour finishes the 2026 season with a 11-14 record.
Up next for Liberty (14-11-1) is the Class 1A Liberty Regional championship game at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
Routt defeated Rushville-Industry 12-2 in their regional semifinal game on Wednesday.
“It’s a different ball game once you get to the playoffs,” said Ruppel. “Seeing a guy like (Brady) Turner is going to be tough, but I think our guys will go out and compete and have good at bats. Reed is going to be on the mound. I think it’s going to be a close ball game and hopefully we come out on top. Homefield advantage is going to be nice and hopefully we get a good crowd out here on Saturday.”
In their regular season meeting, Routt defeated Liberty 11-8 on May 7.
“I think we can go out and put up a good fight against Routt,” said Bent. “We did earlier this season and we played good against them last year. Hopefully we can do the same on Saturday.”