DUNCAN, S.C. – A clash between two teams separated by 10 miles came down to one pitch on Tuesday night at ‘The Backyard’. The ball left the bat with a resounding smack towards left-center field and appeared to be an extra-base hit.
As the ball began to take flight, Chapman’s Cason Owens took off from his spot in left and as the USC Sumter commit made a mad dash he then swooped in for the catch, preserving a 2-1 victory for the Chapman Panthers over the Byrnes Rebels. “Go get it, run it down, and make a play for my boys,” Owens said about the play. “That’s all you can do. This shows that we’re a good enough team to win close games… It gives us confidence after a couple of bad games to come back and get a good win against a really good team. Byrnes always plays us hard every single year. Those games prepare us for what we’re going to see in the playoffs.” The game-saving grab capped off a strong showing by Jacob Cogdell on the mound. The right-hander scattered three hits and one run over six and two-thirds innings of work, striking out five batters along with three walks. Kole Brown ripped a one-out double down the left field line in the fourth inning and scored on a Wesley Shipman base hit to right, staking the Panthers to a 1-0 lead. Byrnes put runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom half of the inning, but a grounder back to the mound ended the frame. “Come in and attack, get outs, and trust the guys behind me,” Cogdell stated about the mentality on the mound. “Going into a big series next week against Blue Ridge, we knew that we had to come out and show we had improved from the past two (games). I was able to keep them off balance all night. I didn’t have many strikeouts, but my guys behind me (on defense) made the plays.” Devin Roe opened the fifth with a leadoff double to the left field corner, moved over to third on a Cole Daugherty sacrifice bunt, and touched home plate on a passed ball, making it a 2-0 lead. A fielder’s choice, error, and walk loaded the bases for the Rebels with two outs in the seventh. Connor Crenshaw earned an RBI the hard way on a hit-by-pitch, which forced home a run and cut it to a 2-1 score prior to the game-ending flyout. “I told the guys (postgame) that if you ever aspire to be an ace of a staff… you’ve got to do what Jacob Cogdell did tonight,” Chapman head coach Steven Fusaro said. “That young man came out here, put himself on that mound, and carried us all the way through. My hat’s off to him. He’s the ace of our program and we’re blessed to have him as part of it.” “We haven’t moved (Cason) from left field because he has made plays like that all year. That’s just a game-winning play by another senior and competitor. I’m just so proud of him on the transition to left field (from third base) and how he’s played out there.” Next up for Chapman (12-5) is a home region contest against Blue Ridge on Tuesday. The game is slated for a 7:45 PM start. JV Baseball – Chapman 13, Byrnes 5 (six innings) Comments are closed.
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