INMAN, SC - The fourth matchup of the season between Chapman and Clinton proved to be quite the battle as the Panthers outslugged the Red Devils for a 9-7 victory on Saturday night. The victory now gives the Panthers home field advantage in the Upper State series as they will now have to be beaten twice on Wednesday to be kept out of the 3A state championship series.
"I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and that God has a plan and I'm not sure how big of a baseball fan he is, but I truly feel that the loss to Clinton for the region put a lot of things in perspective for our guys," said Chapman head coach Steven Fusaro. "One of those is two out hitting along with getting better at bunting which we've really homed in on the last few weeks and our guys have bought into it. Now we're seeing the results as we've had a lot of games here in the playoffs where we're scoring eight or nine runs which didn't happen earlier in the year so I'm excited about that." Clinton took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning before the Chapman bats got to work in the bottom half of the inning. Chapman got their offense started when second baseman Jarren Metcalf crushed a double to right centerfield, to start a solid night for the Panther's leadoff hitter who was three for three at the plate on Saturday night. Three batters after Metcalf's double senior designated hitter Ricky Montalvo hit a three-run homer that sailed over the centerfield wall between the A and P in Chapman scoring both Metcalf and catcher Johan Rodriguez, who had reached on a walk, to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead. The homerun brought an energy to the Panthers team and Fusaro said it's just what they expect from Montalvo. "When Rick pitches we call him big pitch Rick and when he hits, we call him big hit Rick," said Fusaro. "Rick just comes up big for us. He's a quiet guy but he's the heart and soul of our team. When he's successful in those big situations you just see his energy and the energy of our team increase. We're a lot better team because Ricky Montalvo is on our team." The Red Devils added a score in the top of the second inning to narrow the Chapman lead to 3-2 heading into the bottom half of the inning. Chapman added two runs in the bottom of the second inning as right fielder Hudson Moss reached on a hit-by-pitch before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cason Owens. Moss pushed the lead to 4-2 when he scored on a Landon Solesbee single to right centerfield. Solesbee, who advanced to third base on a Metcalf single to leftfield, eventually stole home when Metcalf got in a rundown between first and second base to push the Panthers lead to 5-2 as both runners ended up being safe. Walt Waddell led off the bottom of the third inning with a double to right centerfield before advancing to third base on sacrifice bunt by Devin Roe. Waddell pushed the Panthers lead to 6-2 on a Clinton wild pitch on ball four to Hudson Moss. Moss later scored on a single to rightfield by Landon Solesbee to push the Chapman lead to 7-2 before Metcalf brought home Cason Owens from third base on a bunt single to make the Panthers lead 8-2 over Clinton. Clinton had their biggest offensive inning of the game in the top of the fourth inning as they scored three runs with two runs coming off a Chapman error that allowed both Zane McLendon and Zach Fortman to score. The Red Devils added another run in the inning to put the Chapman lead at 8-5 when Luke White scored from third base on a sacrifice fly to rightfield by Davidson Pitts. In the top of the fourth inning Chapman added another run when Ricky Montalvo, who reached base on a five pitch walk, scored on a double to left centerfield by Carson Owens to give the Panthers a 9-5 lead. Clinton added two more runs in the top of the fifth inning to narrow the Chapman lead to 9-7 but that's as close as the Red Devils would get in the game. Chapman senior Drew Settle came into pitch the final two innings for the Panthers as he limited Clinton to one hit and one walk over eight batters while striking out two batters. Fusaro said having someone like Settle with his experience to be able to stabilize games out of the bullpen is a great resource to have especially in the playoffs. "There isn't a higher character guy in this place than Drew Settle," said Fusaro. "We haven't asked him to pitch much in previous years because he threw so much with football and this year we've just kind of worked him into it. He's kind of become our defacto closer and to have a guy like that you can lean on to get six outs is unbelievable." Chapman's baseball field was packed with fans from both teams as both stands had no seats left and chairs went four rows deep along the fence lines which Fusaro said was part of his dream when he took over the program. "When I was named the head coach in 2013 this was my vision," said Fusaro. "This is the place that made me and is near and dear to my heart. I told every team I've coached here that this community will support you because they love baseball. We've had pillars like Mr. Metcalf and Mr. Everhart that built the love of baseball in this community. To see it like it was tonight, I had to take a moment during one of the inning breaks to soak it all in because to see the vision I started with ten years ago starting to come to fruition is exciting." The Panthers will now wait for the winner of the Clinton and Powdersville game on Monday before facing the winner at Chapman on Wednesday. Comments are closed.
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