CHESNEE, S.C. – Two longtime foes – the Chapman Panthers and Chesnee Eagles – renewed a longstanding rivalry series at Dean Jones Stadium on Monday evening. It began as a pitching duel, but two big innings helped Chapman pick up an 11-6 victory over Chesnee.
Hunter Bland and Jordan Fitch started the contest on the hill for the Panthers and Eagles, respectively, and both hurlers proved to be stingy. Bland and Fitch each tossed three innings and tallied three strikeouts apiece. Fitch allowed one hit and two runs (one unearned), while Bland held the Eagles hitless, yielding an unearned run. Johann Rodriguez drew a one-out walk in the second inning and scored from first base when Jarren Metcalf sent a triple to the centerfield wall. Metcalf scored on an error two batters later, which gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead. “This is what we need – to play baseball,” said Chapman head coach Steven Fusaro. “We love being able to play these guys. I want our guys to have to go into places like this and compete. Coach Wease does an unbelievable job (at Chesnee). This is exactly what we needed – to play a quality baseball team in an unbelievable environment and community, and to see our guys come through.” Chesnee cut the deficit in half during their third turn at the plate as Eli Henderson reached on a throwing error. Henderson moved up to second following a walk issued to Carson Gossett and later scored on another throwing error, making it a 2-1 game. Hudson Moss led off the fifth with a bunt single and later advanced to third before scoring on a wild pitch for a 3-1 Chapman lead. Cason Owens and Peyton Hodge each reached on a base hit to open the sixth, where Owens scored on a Moss bunt single. Hodge and Moss touched home plate on a two-RBI Kole Brown base knock, while Brown scored on a Jack Settle double to left-center field for a six run Panther lead. “I want to do anything I can to help the team,” Moss stated about his mindset for every game. “That is all I want to do. I don’t try to do too much at the plate – just see the ball and hit it back up the middle.” Chesnee responded in the bottom of the sixth by stringing together three straight hits with two outs. Tucker Johnson notched a base hit and came around to score on an Ethan Lawson double to left field. Lawson touched home plate on a Daniel Wease base knock to left, which made it a 7-3 score. Chapman sent 10 up to bat in the seventh and scored four more runs for a seven run advantage, but Chesnee continued to battle. In the last at bat, two free passes and a Gossett single loaded the bases with none out for the Eagles. Dawson Pruitt and Johnson each recorded an RBI walk, while Kyle Martin scored from third on an error and cut the deficit down to five, but a pair of strikeouts by Owens ended the game and secured the win for the Panthers. “You want to play Chapman,” Chesnee head coach Scott Wease said. “We’ve played them for years and it’s always been a great rivalry. We got down 7-1 (in the sixth) and could’ve rolled over, but we got a few runs back. They went up a little bit more, but we showed some fight in the last inning too. We kept fighting all the way to the end. It didn’t work out for us, but we get a chance to play again tomorrow.” Chapman · Hudson Moss: 3-5, two RBI, three runs scored. · Kole Brown: 2-5, three RBI, run scored. Chesnee · Tucker Johnson: 1-3, RBI, run scored. · Ethan Lawson: 1-4, RBI, run scored. Chapman (13-7) continues its four-game-in-five-day stretch with a road Region 3-3A matchup at Travelers Rest on Tuesday at 7:30 PM. Chesnee also faces a quick 24 hour turnaround, as the Eagles will make the trip over to face the Broome Centurions on Tuesday night at 8 PM. Comments are closed.
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