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 The Panthers struck first in the bottom of the first inning as Will
Ewald led off with a double. The next batter Trevor Bree walked and
moments later was involved in a run down as the runners were trying
to advance.
Meanwhile Ewald made it over to third base and was leaning towards
going home when Mount Pulaski's first baseman Todd Kelly fired over
to Joey Davis at third and Davis quickly tagged the runner out. Bree,
however, now stood at second base. Noah Funk then grounded out to
the shortstop as Bree had to hold at second base.
Next Justin Horchem stepped to the plate with two outs and as the
pitch was delivered high in the strike zone, the clean-up hitter had
no problem sending the ball over the left field fence. The blast off
Mount Pulaski starter Grant Davis was Horchem's third home run of
the season and gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead.
Mount Pulaski would quickly come back in the top of the second
inning to tie the game 2-2 on RBI singles by Braydin Lanners and
Braden Meagher.
In the third inning Brandon Batchelder would put Mount Pulaski ahead
3-2 with an RBI double off Panthers' starter Trevor Bree.
On the mound Bree and Davis would battle over the next couple
innings before Davis was relieved by Mount Pulaski's Kelly. Kelly
pitched a scoreless sixth inning for the Bruins.
The Panthers brought in a fresh arm for the top of the seventh
inning in Noah Funk. Funk was throwing heat at the Bruins and only
Meagher managed to make contact with the flamethrower. Meagher
popped out while the next two batters, Kelly and Grant Davis fanned.
Mount Pulaski also went to the bullpen again for the bottom of the
seventh inning as Brandon Kretzinger looked to retire the Panthers.
Not gonna happen on this day though. A one-out single to right field
by Trevor Bree got the Panthers crowd ignited.
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Bree took second on a passed ball and with the tying run on second,
a very focused Funk stepped to the plate. Funk quickly smacked a
line drive to right to tie the game at 3-3. He advanced to second on
a balk by Kretzinger and then Mount Pulaski decided to go ahead and
intentionally walk Horchem.
From here things escalated quickly as Funk stole third and scored
the winning run on a wild pitch as Thomas Morris stood near the
batter's box.
Coach Randy Ely's squad, which consists of nine eighth graders this
season, improves to 5-1 on the season and Mount Pulaski falls to
4-4. Each team had six hits apiece.
For the winning Panthers - Bree, Funk, Jayden Pollice and Tanner
Strampp each had singles, while Ewald had a double and the big hit
of the game belonged to Horchem, that first inning home run.
For the Bruins, Batchelder had a single and a double to lead the
way, while Kelly, Lanners, Meagher and Drew Martin each singled.
Funk picked up the win for Chester-East and Kretzinger took the loss
for the Bruins.
Next up for the two teams is the Logan County Tournament this
weekend.
[Teena Lowery]
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