SAND ROCK - The Spring Garden Panthers fell behind early at Sand Rock on Saturday, but an eight-run rally in the sixth inning propelled the Panthers to an 11-4 baseball victory.
“We did not start out the day like we wanted to,†Panther head coach Barrett Ragsdale said. “We came in here today looking to end our week with three wins, but we started slow. Dawson Broome ignited us with a home run in the sixth inning, and Joe Rogers sealed the deal for us.â€
Spring Garden (4-1) struck first against the Wildcats (1-2) off of a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch taken by Colby Slayton that allowed Christian Crider to score.
Aside from the hit-by-pitch, Wildcat starting pitcher Carson Carver would be near-perfect in his four innings of work, striking out eight and allowing just two hits.
Sand Rock responded in the bottom of the third with some small ball. Carver led off the inning with a walk against Panther starting pitcher Broome, and Tanner Clanton laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Carver to second. Carver then stole third and Seth Justice delivered a RBI-single, tying the score at a run apiece.
Broome finished after three innings of work with five strikeouts, four walks and two earned runs allowed.
Justice delivered another RBI-hit in the bottom of the fourth, scoring Logan Wood to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead. Justice would finish 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs and a walk.
The Wildcats plated two more runs in the fifth off of a RBI-single from Gaston Willard and a RBI-walk from Clanton.
Broome led off the top of the sixth for the Panthers with a solo homer to left center, sparking the Panther offense. Spring Garden would notch five hits in the inning, and seven different Panthers would collect RBIs, including Ben Ivey, Riley Austin, and a second from Broome.
Rogers came on in relief for the Panthers in the fourth and secured the 11-4 victory. Rogers also collected three strikeouts and allowed no earned runs along with pitching the win.
“We’re having some growing pains,†Wildcat head coach Tyler Driskell said. “It was a good game. We had one bad inning where made a few mistakes, and they had some big hits. We have a young team right now, and I think that later on we’ll be a solid team.â€
The Panthers now ride a 4-game win streak, and Ragsdale already sees growth in his team.
“We still have some guys figuring out their roles on the team and what all they should be doing in different situations, but we showed a lot of maturity with our at-bats and closing out the game.â€
The Panthers will host Gaylesville on Tuesday, while the Wildcatsl host Ashville on Monday.
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