UNION, S.C. – It was a significant Region III-3A contest on Friday night at the Timken Sports Complex as the Chapman Panthers and Union County Yellow Jackets clashed for the second time this week.
A solid showing at the plate by sophomore Johan Rodriguez helped push the Panthers past the Yellow Jackets by a 4-1 tally, sweeping the series. With two strikes against him and two out in the first inning, Rodriguez notched a two-run single, driving in Jacob Murray and Ricky Montalvo and staking the Panthers to an early 2-0 lead. “I’m super excited for our guys,” Chapman head coach Steven Fusaro said. “We’ve spent some time over the past two days trying to identify things that we can improve on. One of those things offensively was cashing runners in when you get them to second and third… Johan comes up with a big two strike, two out hit right there and that set the tone for us from the very beginning.” Rodriguez would finish the game with a team-high three runs batted in. Fellow sophomore Jarren Metcalf also tallied an RBI single, scoring Banks Atkins from third. “Jo started out really hot at the plate,” Fusaro added. “Through the first six games of the year, he was as hot of a hitter as we had. He was leading our team in RBIs and those kind of things. I think that over the last two weeks, he’s tried to do too much. As a tenth grader and a guy that has an extremely bright future, we just need him to stay within himself. Tonight, I saw him stay in the middle of the field with his approach.” On the hill, senior right-hander Banks Atkins posted another strong outing by holding the Yellow Jackets to one run on five hits in the contest, while striking out seven batters. “We had three unbelievable starts by our pitchers this week,” Fusaro remarked. “I’m super proud of our entire (pitching) staff. Gavin had a great outing on Monday, then Ricky turned around and had a great outing on Tuesday. Banks wasn’t going to let the week end without having a great outing, too.” Chapman (10-6, 4-0 Region III-3A) will make the trip over to Centurion Field to face the Broome Centurions (3-3 Region III-3A) on Tuesday evening. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 PM. -Justin Mathis Comments are closed.
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