Panthers pick up a pair

MT. PLEASANT - For the first time this season, the Mt. Pleasant baseball team got to double-dip Southeast Conference victories on the same night.

On Monday, the Panthers polished off the team’s first conference sweep of the year. Mt. Pleasant won Game 1, 9-3, and took Game 2, 17-7 in six innings.

It’s really important for us,“ said Jack Johnson, who started Game 1 on the pitcher’s mound. ” A lot of us have been pretty frustrated with not winning many games, but we’ve done a really good job of keeping our heads up.“

The Panthers were hungry in the opener. They batted around in the first inning, putting up seven runs in the opening frame.

Keokuk cut the game to 7-3 with a three-run third inning, but Mt. Pleasant struck right back with two in the bottom of the inning.

Chase Williamson went 2-for-3 with two RBIs to lead the offense in Game 1. Colton Hutson and Jack Johnson had two RBIs each, and Jake Ensminger picked up a win on the mound after relieving Johnson in the third.

The story was quite the same in Game 2. The Panthers scored eight runs over the first three innings and Keokuk scrapped back, but this time they did so with much more fervor.

The Chiefs rallied for seven runs in the fourth inning, forcing Johnson to come in to pitch for the Panthers in Game 2. The Panther senior shut the Chiefs down from that point on.

Leading 8-7 into the bottom of the fourth, the Panthers scored the next nine runs of the ballgame.

Freshman Payton Hagans led the charge in Game 2, going 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs. He finished the night with five hits over two games.

“I’ve been struggling since the beginning of the season,” said Hagans. “Today I was just seeing the ball well.”

Dalton Gardner went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Hutson was 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Will Edeker, Cooper Keldgord and Johnson all had two RBIs, and Edeker picked up the win on the mound.

Mt. Pleasant is now 4-15 overall. In conference play, the Panthers are 3-9 with all three conference wins coming over the Chiefs.

“You hope to be getting better as the season goes on,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Brent Broeker. “We played two one-run games with them last time, so to beat them up this time was nice to see.”