Panthers down Highland

PACKWOOD - There is a reason baseball coaches put their lineups together in a certain way.

It was obvious Thursday in a Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Division battle between Pekin and the visitors from Highland.

The top five in the batting order on each team scored all of their teams' runs in a 7-6 Pekin victory.

Of course their job is to get on. Highland's Cael Yeggy and Cory Stewart, the No. 6 and No. 7 batters each had an RBI to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead that evaporated after Pekin plated four first-inning runs and added another in the second.

Dan Burton's two-run double in the fourth inning gave Highland a 6-5 lead, but Pekin responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth for the final score.

However it wasn't over yet. Highland put two runners on with no one out in the top of the seventh. A baserunning miscue and two strikeouts ended the threat.

'Our senior pitcher (Tanner Bainbridge) that we brought in, honestly, was how we were able to win,” Pekin head baseball coach Curtis 'Pi” Reighard said. 'We weren't getting some of the calls we should've got, but then neither were they. That game should've been 6-2 with us on top. They are a very well-coached team. We gave them outs and walks hurt us.”

'This was a good, well-played game between two good teams,” Highland coach Seth Milledge. 'Tonight was there for the taking if we wanted it and we were just a couple of plays short. Baserunning mistakes are teachable moments, especially early in the season and also the kind of things that we can learn from and will make us better.”

Pekin has a 3-0 record, 'which is a great start but I wish we had more games,' Reighard said. 'This is a weird odd season so far. This is probably one of the funnest groups that I have had since I have been here. We only have 18 kids out for various reasons, we lost one to drinking and some other ones because of grades, but this group of seniors are exceptional leaders.”

Highland has a 1-1 record and hosts Wapello today.

'There were multiple things that caused us to lose,” Milledge said. 'We had a chance. We had a runner on third with one of our top hitters up in the seventh inning of a one-run game. Unfortunately, we did not come through. But we want to be in those situations. More times than not, in my time here, we have found a way to get the win when we face those situations. We hit the ball fairly well and put a lot of pressure on their defense.”

Putting pressure on the defense is a double-edged sword as it creates opportunities but also mistakes.

'We can't fault our guys when we get aggressive because we do want to put pressure on opponents,' Milledge said. 'Those will lead to runs for us a lot of times. Pekin is a good defensive team and Quinn Ledger did a heckuva job behind the plate putting pressure on us as base runners. I thought it was a well-played game between the two teams.”