Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Five Panthers compiled seven home runs in Neosho County Community College's double header sweep at Fort Scott Community College Thursday afternoon.
Fort Scott (12-18 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference East, 33-13 overall) hit three for a total of 10 longballs between the two teams on the day. 
Neosho (18-12, 33-13) took game one 8-7 and game two 16-4 in a run rule shortened contest.
Going yard for Neosho were Levi Ashmore (2), Trevor Burkdoll (2), Jonah Bride, Ryan Toliver and Bradley Bullock. Jed Andrade (2) and Nick Banman had home runs for the Greyhounds, all three in the first game.
"It's just a pretty day and we squared up some balls," Panther Head Coach Steve Murry said. "They had some too. When you square up enough balls, that's going to happen occassionally at this time of year. It was a good day to hit and our guys came to hit."
The Panthers struggled offensively early game one, not putting a run on the board until the top of the fifth inning. In the fifth, the Panthers scored four runs to tie the contest. 
The first two runs for Neosho came from the first dinger of the day, a two run shot from Burkdoll. Ashmore then hit his first homer of the day for the third run of the inning. The Panthers tied the game at 4-4 when Greyhound pitcher Matt Peterson walked Ashmore with the bases loaded to score Spencer Ibarra.
The scoring continued in the top of the sixth for Neosho with the Panthers taking a 5-4 lead with a sacrifice fly RBI by Ibarra that scored Burkdoll. Two more runs came through when Bride drove home Tyler Sutherland and Ashmore with a double. 
The last run of the inning and the game for the Panthers came when Blake Tomasino singled to score Sutherland for an 8-4 advantage. 
The sixth inning ended on a controversial call at first. Fort Scott recorded the second out of the inning with a caught line drive to right field. Greyhound Andrade made the throw to first to get Tomasino, who had attempted to get back to first after the caught fly ball. Tomasino appeared to be back at the base, but was called out by the umpire.
"It took us a while," Murry said about the early game slump. "We didn't overly hit the ball well the first game, but we hit the ball good in certain spots." 
Fort Scott rallied in the bottom of the sixth, scoring three runs. The first Geryhound run was scored on a solo blast from Banman. The final run came from a two run homer from Andrade, his second of the game. 
Neosho made a pitching change, inserting Humboldt product Nathan Whitcomb. Whitcomb retired four of the last six batters of the game, striking out three to earn the save, his third of the season.
Tyler Mitzel (3-2) started the game, earning the win. He pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing nine hits and seven runs. Mitzel was hit by a line drive last week against Coffeyville and was not at 100 percent.
"He was best available that we had to not disrupt our whole pitching staff," Murry said, "We knew we had to get by with as many innings as we could. I honestly thought his middle innings were very. very good. He learned how to compete today without his best stuff. He's better than what he showed today, but he came through it well, being injured."
In game one, Sutherland was 3-for-5 with a run scored. Ashmore went 1-for-2 with the home run. Tomasino was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Bride was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Burkdoll finsihed 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored and the home run.
Game two was much different from game with Neosho taking an early lead and hitting five home runs. The Panthers scored three runs in the top of third. Neosho reached home for the first run with a base loaded walk of Chad Thomas that scored Sutherland. The second and third runs were scored when Bullock singled, scoring Bride and Ashmore for a 3-0 lead. 
The Panthers scored four more in the top of the third with a Bride solo home run and a Burkdoll three run shot, his second of the afternoon. 
Fort Scott got on the board with a three run bottom of the third to narrow the Panther margin to 7-3.
Three more runs were scored by the Panthers in the top of the sixth with a three run blast from Bullock. Fort Scott scored its final run in the bottom half of the sixth.
Neosho scored another three runs in the top of the seventh with another three run home run. This time it was Toliver goin yard for a 13-4 lead.
The game ended after eight innings due to the run rule. Neosho scored three more in the top of the eight with another three run home run, Ashmore's second of the day.
"The second game we kind of put it in cruise control," Murry said. "Even though we scored a lot of runs we left a lot of opportunities out there. We have to do a better job of picking up our runnners, but we're getting better than we were at the beginning of the year."
Trent Latta (7-2) picked up the victory in a complete game performance. He pitched eight innings, struck out eight and allowed four runs while walking one.
Sutherland was 3-for-6 with three runs scored. Ashmore went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored, including the home run. Bride was 1-for-4 with a home run, a RBI and two runs scored. Toliver was 2-for-6 with three RBIs, a home run and two runs scored. Thomas was 2-for-3 with one RBI and two runs scored. Bullock was 3-for-5 with five RBIs, a home run and a run scored. Burkdoll was 2-for-5 with three RBIs, a home run and a run scored.
The Panthers are scheduled to host Fort Scott to end the four game season series Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Multigenerational Baseball themed double header at Hudson Field.
"That's fun day at the ball park," Murry said. "I'm just hoping the weather holds up for it."
 
PANTHERS 8, Fort Scott 7 (Apr 16, 2015 at Ft Scott, KS) (Game 1)
PANTHERS............ 000 044 0 -  8 11  0      (32-13, 17-12)
Fort Scott.......... 110 203 0 -  7 10  2      (23-22, 12-17)
Pitchers: PANTHERS - Tyler Mitzel; Nathan Whitcomb(6). Fort Scott - Westfahl, Nate;
Peterson, Matt(5); Banman, Nick(5); Methvin, Nathan(6).
Win-Tyler Mitzel(3-2)  Save-Nathan Whitcomb(3)  Loss-Banman, Nick  T-  A-0
HR NEOSHO - Levi Ashmore; Trever  Burkdoll.
HR FORTSCOT - Andrade, Jedd 2; Banman, Nick. 
 
PANTHERS 16, Fort Scott 4 (Apr 16, 2015 at Ft Scott, KS) (Game 2)
PANTHERS............ 304 003 33 - 16 16  0      (33-13, 18-12)
Fort Scott.......... 003 001 00 -  4  7  3      (23-23, 12-18)
Pitchers: PANTHERS - Trent Latta. Fort Scott - McCullough, Ryan; Janes, Brendan(4);
Pierce, Bobby(6).
Win-Trent Latta(7-2)  Loss-McCullough, Ryan  T-  A-0
HR NEOSHO - Levi Ashmore; Jonah Bride; Ryan Toliver; Bradley Bullock; Trever  Burkdoll