After suffering two losses in Richfield over the weekend, the Pinnacle Panther baseball team bounced back to defeat Intermountain Christian, 16-3 before returning home from a two-day tournament. The Panthers would then host Wendover on Aug. 19 chalking up a convincing 11-5 win.
Pinnacle kicked off the Richfield tournament against Panguitch on Aug. 15. The team managed only one run during the game and fell to Panguitch 13-1. Pinnacle moved on to face Manila who served up the Panther’s second loss of the day by the final score of 14-2.
Baseball action continued on Aug. 16 as Pinnacle shook off the two prior losses to defeat Intermountain Christian. The win concluded tournament action and sent the Panthers home with added confidence.
“Richfield wasn’t the easiest,” admitted head coach Cameron Gardner. “We did however learn a lot about the team and about us as coaches.”
Gardner explained the coaches outlook on the season.
“We are stressing the importance of being a good person,” the coach emphasized. “We are not just coaching baseball, we are shaping these players into responsible adults.”
Coaching efforts paid off Monday as the Panthers scored a home victory against Wendover. Although Pinnacle allowed two runs in the top of the first inning, the team did answer with one run of their own in the bottom of the inning. Four runs in the second and one run in the third put Pinnacle ahead of Wendover, 6-2.
The visiting team rallied in the fifth scoring two runs and one more run in the sixth. Pinnacle was losing control of the ball game but not for long. Harley Barker made a big catch sending Wendover to the foe;d and Pinnacle to bat. The Panthers scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth. Wendover could not answer in the seventh, allowing Pinnacle to take the win.
“We had a rough start against Wendover,” explained Gardner. “We had a bit of a stagnant period, but managed to finish strong.”
The win pushed Pinnacle’s record to 4-3.
The Panthers were scheduled to play Dugway on Aug. 21 on the road. This weekend, Pinnacle will play three games in Panguitch and will return home on Sept. 8 to face Telos.
