ETV News stock photos by Jeff Barrett
The Panthers exploded out of the gates on Tuesday against Tintic. McGuire Kocks singled to start the first. He then stole second and came home on Delbert Lain’s single.
Brendin Bagelow walked and Michael Schmitz cleared the bases with his single, making it 3-0. Two walks and two errors made it 5-0 before Lain hit is second single of the inning, bringing home his second RBI to boot.
Bigelow got in on the action with a two-out single, followed by Schmitz’s second single and ribbie. By the end of the frame, Pinnacle had built a huge 8-0 cushion.
Tintic responded with two runs in the bottom of the first, but the Panthers got those runs back in the third. In fact, when Tintic scored, the Panthers came back and found more runs.
Schmitz was excellent on the mound, lasting six and 1/3 innings. He only gave up two earned runs, while striking out 12 batters. Kocks came in to close out the seventh with back-to-back punch outs as Pinnacle took the contest 13-8.
Four different batters had multiple hits in the game. After going 5-5 last week, Schmitz continued to swing a hot bat and led the group, going 4-5 with two triples and five RBIs. Kocks and Lain each went 3-5 while the latter finished with three ribbies. Last but not least, Bigelow finished 2-4 with two RBIs and a walk. In addition, Jayson Miller hit a double while Jaxon Cranford recorded the last RBI.
“At the beginning of the season, with a lot of kids new to baseball, we said that our season won’t be judged by wins and losses, but by progression,” said head coach Ray Jones after the game. “The players have stayed the course, remained positive and improved. That’s a testament to their character and I couldn’t be more proud of them. They have worked so hard.”
The Panthers (2-13, 0-7) returned home to face Green River (1-11, 1-8) on Wednesday. The team will then face Wayne (9-4, 5-2) on Friday.
