INMAN, S.C. – Pitching was the name of the game on Thursday evening as two hurlers posted a strong outing, propelling the Chapman Panthers to a 7-1 victory over the Woodruff Wolverines in non-region action.
Woodruff struck first in the opening frame on two hits and a delayed double steal, plating a run for a 1-0 Wolverine lead. Chapman tied the game at one in the bottom of the frame as Hudson Moss smacked a leadoff double to right-center and scored on a Kole Brown double to left. Jack Settle toed the slab for the Panthers and threw five solid innings, navigating around a couple of scoring threats and holding the Wolverines to one run on five hits. The right-hander also finished with three strikeouts on the ledger. Devin Roe was hit by a pitch to begin the third, advanced to third base on another Brown double, and scored on a Johann Rodriguez sacrifice fly to center, breaking the deadlock, and giving Chapman a 2-1 lead. Southpaw Jesse Raines entered the game from the bullpen and did his part, posting a pair of scoreless innings and striking out four of the seven Wolverine batters that he faced for a two-inning save. “Jack gave us a really good start,” said Chapman head coach Steven Fusaro. “He gave us a chance right there. It was a lot of fun to see him go out there and throw well. Jesse’s got ‘it’ and it is just a matter of him understanding that he has ‘it’. We challenge these guys that when their playing careers are over, we don’t want them to look back and have regrets." “Jesse is a young man that has tons of talent. We’re hoping he is starting to catch fire here late in the season because he’s a guy that can help us. It was exciting to see him go out there and attack those two innings. It was a really good night for our pitching staff.” Cason Owens started the sixth with a base hit, followed by a free pass to Raines to put two on with one out. Cole Daugherty and Coleman Gray entered the game as runners for Owens and Raines, respectively, and both scored. Daugherty sprinted home on a Peyton Hodge single to right, while Gray crossed the plate on a Moss double to left. Hunter Bland (courtesy runner for Hodge) and Moss both scored on a Roe opposite-field double down the right field line, while a wild pitch scored Roe from third, extending the Panther advantage to 7-1 at that juncture of the contest. “It was pretty good baseball played by two pretty good teams,” Fusaro stated. “These are two playoff teams. I challenged our guys, especially in the late innings, to not be content with a one, two, or three run lead. Good teams find a way to add one more to the lead and that’s what we were trying to do there. Hodge came up with the big hit to drive that run in, then some other guys followed suit and did the same. It was a well-played baseball game.” Chapman (15-7) closes out a busy week with a home Region 3-3A contest against Travelers Rest. The game is slated for a 7:45 PM start. Comments are closed.
|
Our SponsorsArchives
October 2023
Categories |