Gabe Albino knew he had to make up for an eighth inning error in last Wednesday’s District 11 6A championship against Parkland.

His ninth inning lead off triple put the pressure on Parkland in a deadlocked 1-1 ballgame and a shallow sac fly by Caleb Tereska gave Albino the shot to push ahead the winning run.

As he tagged back to third base, the play at the plate was a microcosm of a championship bout, as the throw home was on time, but Albino slid just to the side, under the arm of the catcher’s mitt, to give Liberty a 2-1 lead that would stick.

Sammy Kraihanzel closed things out with a 1-2-3 bottom of the frame and the Hurricanes rejoiced their first D11 championship since 2007.

“I was just trying to make a play after making the error and just did what I had to do,” said Albino. “Then the play at the plate was close. I slid to the outside and got my left hand in there. This means everything. We’ve been working for this since day one.”

The title was savoring for head coach Andy Pitsilos, who waited 10 years to be able to celebrate a district championship again, a wait that was well worth it with this year’s crop of players.

“I’m just so happy for these kids because they put in so much work,” Pitsilos said. “All the hard work, I’m just happy for them. It’s all about them. They’re great.”

Liberty (24-3) certainly was motivated to face Parkland (18-9), after the Trojans took home the EPC championship with a 6-3 victory two weeks ago.

For Kraihanzel, that game provided plenty of motivation, as he came in and dominated in 5 1/3 innings of relief action.

“I didn’t pitch very well in the EPC championship, but I had it going today,” said Kraihanzel, who didn’t allow any hits in his appearance last week. “Going into the ninth I just had to throw strikes and let my fielders make plays and that’s what happened.”

And Liberty left Lehigh University’s Legacy Park with just enough plays and one memorable slide home to celebrate a deserved gold medal.

“That was a 50-50 shot there on that play and Gabe made a great slide,” said Pitsilos. “When you lead off with a triple, you better score. Tereska did a great job getting the ball off the bat and this was just a great team win.”

PIAA playoffs

The Hurricanes continued their breathtaking run in the postseason with their third straight late inning win in Monday’s 5-4 victory over Governor Mifflin in the opening round of the PIAA 6A tournament.

Sophomore Antonio Zabala laced a walk-off single in the seventh inning to push Liberty into Thursday’s state quarterfinals against District 12 champion Frankford.

“We believe we can go far,” said Zabala after registering the biggest hit of his life. “I’m just happy I was able to get the hit.”

For Pitsilos, it was just another chapter in a wild ride for this year’s team, which became the winningest group in school history with Monday’s win at Lehigh.

After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the third, Liberty answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame, led by Zabala’s two-run double. Zabala entered the game after starting shortstop Elias Gross was forced to leave the contest with back spasms.

From there Liberty’s lead jumped to 4-1 heading into the sixth before the Mustangs answered with a pair of runs to cut it to 4-3 heading into the seventh, where they would eventually tie it up.

That’s when Zabala came through in the clutch and the rest they say, is history.

“They play hard and don’t quit,” said Pitsilos. “We could have got down on ourselves, but we fought back and the it was just another guy like Antonio stepping up and making plays.”