Pana Splits Games
The Pana Panthers baseball team played between the puddles this week and split their games with Ramsey and Litchfield.
Pana was a 10-3 winner over Ramsey on Monday, Apr. 18, but lost to Litchfield, 11-1, on Wednesday, Apr. 20.
Raustin Zahradka did it all Monday, going 5-for-5 at the plate with 3 triples and 3 runs batted in. He was also the winning pitcher, raising his record to 3-2. He allowed 3 hits, struck out 5 and walked 2 in 4-and-a-third innings worked.
Pana was up, 1-0 after 2, but Ramsey chalked up 3 runs in the third to take a 3-1 lead.
Pana got the bats going in the fourth inning, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring 5 runs for a 6-3 lead.
Dexter Holley led off the inning with a solo home run. Dakota Davis then reached after being hit by a pitch and an error by the third baseman on a ball hit by Alex Metzger put men at first and second. They advanced a base on a steal to put Panthers at second and third. The next two batters were retired before Ian Kirk delivered a double which scored the base runners and he scored on an RBI single by Zahradka. He went to second on an error by the pitcher and scored on Tyler Cothern’s single.
Pana struck for 2 runs in the fifth when Davis and Metzger singled back-to-back. With 2 outs, Zahradka doubled home two of the runners to make it an 8-3 game.
The last two runs were scored in the seventh with a single by Kyle Matthews and a stolen base got him to second. A walk to Derrick Lesser put runners at first and second. Kirk doubled to drive in a run and Zahradka’s third double sent Kirk home for a 10-3 score.
Kirk, Tyson Spencer, Holley, Davis, Metzger and Matthews all had base hits.
Vs. Litchfield–
The Panthers could only muster 1 run on 6 hits in the contest at Litchfield Wednesday.
Zahradka’s sacrifice fly in the third accounted for Pana’s only run in the game.
Litchfield came alive in the second inning when they banged out 7 hits, sending 13 batters to the plate as they scored 9 runs for a commanding lead. Two more Litchfield runs in the fifth ended the game, 11-1.
Lesser, Kirk, Spencer, Holley, Matthews and Metzger each had Pana base hits. Lesser and Matthews each had stolen bases. Spencer was tagged with the loss.
The schedule has the Panthers, 6-7, playing Friday, Apr. 22, at Panthers Field, hosting the Greenville Comets at 1:00 p.m. On Saturday, Apr. 23, they will be at Rochester for a 10:00 a.m. game and on Monday, Apr. 25, they have a 1:00 p.m. game at Piasa Southwestern.
