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Washington Evening Journal
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Panthers sweep Demons
Mt. Pleasant baseball slugs out 27 runs against rival Washington
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MT. PLEASANT — Don’t look now, but the Mt. Pleasant baseball team has won five out of its last six after a dominant doubleheader against rival Washington on Monday night.
The Panthers swept the Demons in a Southeast Conference doubleheader, taking both games via the mercy rule. Mt. Pleasant won Game 1, 13-3 in five innings, and Game 2, 14-4 in five frames.
Mt. Pleasant held an early 5-0 lead in Game 1, but Washington rallied back with four in the top of the third to cut it to 5-4. The Panthers immediately put up seven more in their half of the third and never looked back.
“I thought offensively, we battled really well against these guys tonight,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Brent Broeker. “We’re hitting the ball hard on the ground and making them make plays, and we put pressure on them every inning.”
J.C. Sitar had a big game in the opener, going 2-for-4 with a double and five RBIs to lead the team. Payton Walker was 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Brayton Hutson went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Liam Marshall had two hits and an RBI, and Zach Newton finished with a double and an RBI.
“I love when people are on base,” said Sitar after the win. “It just always pushes me to get the runners in.”
Newton picked up the win on the mound for Mt. Pleasant, giving up four runs (three earned) over 3.1 innings. He struck out four Demon batters.
Washington’s Blayze Richardson went 2-for-3 with an RBI in Game 1. Boden Brown was 2-for-3 with a double. Nate Edmonds had two hits, and Mitchell Zieglwosky and Easton Rugg each knocked in one run.
Mt. Pleasant scored the first 11 runs in Game 2. The Panthers put up two in the first, three in the second, four in the third and two in the fourth.
Washington responded with three runs in the top of the third, but the Panthers scored twice in the fifth to end the night early.
Newton went 1-for-4 with a double and three RBIs in Game 2. Hutson and Sitar both knocked int wo runs. Cooper Coleman was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Walker and Marshall each had one RBI.
Greyson Lowery pitched a gem in Game 2. He threw 4.2 innings and gave up just three unearned runs on one hit, one walk and two hit batters, while striking out five.
Washington’s lone hit in Game 2 was a single off the bat of Rugg. Daniel Chenoweth had the team’s only RBI.
“It’s really hard to be successful when we’re trying to constantly get four to five outs in an inning,” said Washington head coach Tyler Rausch. “That’s the tough part. Our pitchers are throwing outs, but our defense just needs to clean it up behind them.”
Mt. Pleasant moved to 12-8 overall and 7-4 with the win. Washington fell to 4-12 overall and 3-9 in league play.
