Hagans deals as Panthers finish sweep

WASHINGTON — Thursday night’s Mt. Pleasant-Washington baseball game wasn’t quite as thrilling as the doubleheader in Mt. Pleasant two-days earlier, but it still ended with a Panther victory.

Mt. Pleasant knocked off Washington 8-1 in the third game of the series, finishing off a sweep in the first Southeast Conference series of the year.

  Buy Photo

The Panthers and Demons stuck close together once more through most of the game. Both teams scored one in the first inning, but Mt. Pleasant took a 2-1 lead in the second and led 3-1 in the fourth.

The game was a pitcher’s dual between Mt. Pleasant’s Payton Hagans and Washington’s Brady Krantz, but the Panthers exploded for five in the seventh inning after Krantz had been chased from the game.

“We didn't play well tonight,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Brent Broeker. “We played probably one inning of baseball well, but thank God Hagans was on.”

Indeed he was. Hagans, a former closer, who was making just his second career start, struck out 12 batters over six innings, giving up just one earned run on five hits and one walk.

  Buy Photo

“It's a little different, but it's really the mindset of going into the game with confidence and having trust in your teammates,” Hagans said.

Offensively, Ben Newton led the way, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs. J.C. Sitar was 2-for-5 with a double. Hagans and Cooper Coleman each knocked in a run.

For Washington, Caden Greiner finished 1-for-3 with an RBI. Nate Edmonds was 1-for-3 with a double, and Krantz gave up just three runs (one earned) on two hits, one walk and three hit batters, while striking out three over five frames.

  Buy Photo

“Brady Krantz threw fantastic,” said Demon head coach T.J. Rausch. “It was a great outing by him (but) we’ve got to score runs.”

The win brought Mt. Pleasant to 6-2 overall and 3-0 in the conference. Washington is 1-5 overall and 0-3 in league play.