Panthers persevere for win

PACKWOOD - It was an odd night for high school softball Thursday at Pekin.

The Panthers' starting pitcher gets taken away in an ambulance, no problem. The lights on the field mysteriously shut off, no problem. Giving up a two-run homer and trailing 5-0, all of it was no problem for Pekin as they took a Southeast Iowa Super Conference non-divisional victory, 9-7 over the visitors from Cardinal.

'I would say that's one of the craziest games that I have ever coached, definitely,” Cardinal head coach Sabrina Morrison said.

The Comets scored three runs in the first inning then added two more when Alexia McClure poked the ball over the left field fence with an out off pitcher Cari Duwa.

Pekin head coach Shelby Atwood brought Kylie Davis in to pitch to the next batter and the Panthers got out of the inning trailing 5-0.

Erika Coleman's double brought Pekin within 5-2 by the end of the second inning when play was halted for nearly 25 minutes to allow Duwa to be taken away in an ambulance.

'She told me before she went out for that inning that she wasn't feeling good and I told her that we will stay on top of it,” Atwood said. 'I have known her for five years because I coached her in middle school so I know how she reacts. She has this problem. She's coming back for us. She will not pitch tomorrow. But she will be fine.”

Pekin took the lead in the third with four runs, two on a double by Taylor Parmenter.

'It was a good comeback because we had to keep our focus,” Atwood said. 'That was something that I had talked about. I was proud of how the girls kept that focus and it allowed us to come back.”

'We just kind of fizzled out,” Morrison said. 'It was something that I have been worried about. We came out ready to go and then, just like our last few games, we kind of play down to the level of our competition instead of playing our game innings one through seven.”

Cardinal tied it at 6-6 when McClure, who was 3-for-4, singled in a run in the sixth inning.

'I was proud of them for the way we bounced back and fought to the end, but calls did not go our way and plays did not go the way we needed them to.” Morrison.

Pekin took a 9-6 lead, scoring two runs on Emi Zook's hit and she came around to score on an error. then the place went dark as the lights shut down.

Pekin athletic director Brent Blakely said there has been a lot of construction going on at the school and maybe something just got overloaded, 'but thank goodness they came back on and the girls got to finish the game.”

it took some time to figure out the problem and the baseball field lights were turned on while the softball lights cooled down enough to be able to be relit. It was a 20-minute wait that Pekin used to play a bat catching game while Cardinal huddled then played catch as the lights slowly brightened.

The Comets got the last two outs on Pekin, then got a leadoff walk, an error and scored when Nicoa McClure batted in a run.

'We do need to lock down on our defense,” Atwood said. 'That is what gets us in trouble.”

Eight of the nine batters had a hit for Pekin.

'Honestly with a game like this, nobody really sticks out as an individual,” Atwood said. 'It was a team thing. All nine are hitting real well right now and as a team that is a good time to be doing that.

'I like where were at heading into the postseason. We have to buckle down on defense. But we can and will. I trust our defense. We are hitting the ball well and that's important because we are going to say good pitching from now on. I thought we saw good pitcher tonight from Cardinal.”