New London rallies big to down Panthers

NEW LONDON ? The first four innings couldn?t have gone much better for Pekin, the last three couldn?t have gone much worse.

New London scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to complete a big comeback and upset Pekin 9-8 Wednesday night. The Panthers led 8-0 and were riding a Leslie Stone no-hitter heading into the fifth before the floor fell out to make way for a New London rally.

?We were on cruise control, we may have relaxed and may have become a little complacent,? said Pekin head coach Bryan Marlay. ?A young team like New London doesn?t know any better and just kept chipping away.

?Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.?

Pekin errors played a big part in the rally as three straight mis-plays with two outs in the seventh prevented the game from ending. Just one of the nine runs charged to Stone was earned.

Dominique Tolle and Paige Jensen both launched home runs as the Panthers built the 8-0 advantage. Tolle finished with five RBI on the night while Jessi Martin went 2-4 with two runs scored and two stolen bases.

Pekin will move on and get ready for a trip to IMS for conference action tonight.

Pekin vs. New London

Pekin ? 1 0 3 0 4 0 0 ? 8 7 7

New London ? 0 0 0 0 3 3 3 ? 9 7 5

PEKIN ? Martin 2-4, 2R; Lankford 0-3, BB, R; Tolle 1-3, HR, 5RBI, 2R; Baker 1-4, 2B, RBI, R; Davis 0-4; Jensen 2-4, HR, 2RBI, R; Spilman 0-4; Johnson 0-3, BB; Stone 1-3; Payne R

Pitching ? Stone (L) 6.2 INN, 7H, 8BB, 5K, ER