The Panthers finished off their four game series with Allen Community College this afternoon at Hudson Field. Unfortunately, for the Panthers the Red Devils bested them in both games, as Allen took game one 3-2 and game 2 12-3.Â
Game 1:
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Game one proved to be a low scoring game for both teams. Panther right handed pitcher
Owen Chaffin pitched very well. He tossed 6.0 innings, gave up 3 runs on 8 hits, and struck out 7. Chaffin was cruising into the sixth inning. However, the Red Devils found a way to plate 3 in the top of the sixth. The Panthers scored their first run in the bottom of the 1st inning on a
Drew Miller triple.
Tyler Dinges drove in another run in the 4th inning for the Panthers. Unfortunately, for the Panthers that was the only two baserunners to cross the plate, runners left on base and strike outs slowed down offensive production in this game. Neosho County left 7 runners on base, and struck out 10 times in the ballgame. At the end of the day, the Panthers could not get the big hit to drive in runners and lost 3-2 as a result of it. The loss brings the Panthers overall record to 6-4 and 1-2 in conference play.
Coach Murry on Game 1, "We definitely had our chances to win this one. I thought Owen [Chaffin] threw well enough to win this one. We expect to win a ballgame when our starter gives up three runs, the ball just didn't fall our way at the end of the game. Offensively, we are going to have to put the ball in play, be more aggressive at the plate, and cash in base-runners when they are in scoring position".Â
Game 2:
Game two saw freshman pitcher
Drake LaRoche take the hill for the Panthers. He tossed 5.0 innings, gave up 4 runs on 9 hits, and struck out 4. The Panthers offense struggled again in this one as they were only able to muster 3 runs on 8 hits. A bright spot for the Panthers was
Khalil Thrasher who knotched 4 hits in the ballgame. Offensively, the Panthers left 11 on base and struck out 13 times at the plate. Neosho County used a hefty amount of their bullpen in this one as: Colton Crocket, Jacob Beckmann,
Brance Ware,
Andrew Hansen, and
Nathan Hungate all logged innings on the mound. All in all, the Panthers struggled in all facets of the game (offensively, defensively, and at times on the mound) and found themselves on the wrong side of a 12-3 ballgame. The defeat sends the Panthers overall record to 6-5 and 1-3 in KJCCC play.Â
Coach
Steve Murry on the Game 2 loss, "Offensively, we still have a lot of work to do. We are seeing a reoccurring theme of lack of production with runners on base  and too many swings and misses. Pitching wise, we need to be better at commanding our breaking stuff and keeping the ball down in the zone. We are not going to hit the panic button after this loss.  We are going to work hard and get better daily. This series showed us a lot about our team and the things we need to work on. We can't change what happened this weekend...all we can do is put our head down and get to work to prepare for our series with Coffeyville".
