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Washington Evening Journal
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Panthers take charge late
Mt. Pleasant baseball heats up in final innings to get game back from Washington
MT. PLEASANT — It was a tough couple of games for Mt. Pleasant in its Southeast Conference openers at Washington on Tuesday. On Thursday, back at home, the Panthers got one back.
Mt. Pleasant used some late-game offense to run away from Washington, 9-5, in Game 3 of the series.
“The bus right home (on Tuesday) was pretty tough,” said Mt. Pleasant senior Zerek Venghaus. “Yesterday, we really focused in the cages, and I think that carried on today.”
The two teams traded runs back and forth. Mt. Pleasant led first, at 2-0 after two. Washington took a 3-2 lead after three. The Panthers went up 4-3 after four, and Washington bounced right back to lead 5-4 one half inning later.
“We would lead and then we'd give it back to them,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Brent Broeker. “Finally in one inning, our guys stepped up.”
A sacrifice fly by Venghaus tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the fifth. In the top of the sixth, it looked as if the Demons would once again punch back, but Mt. Pleasant reliever Payton Hagans wiggled out of a bases-loaded one-out jam, striking out two of the Demons’ best batters in the process.
In the bottom of the sixth, Mt. Pleasant’s J.C. Sitar broke the tie with an RBI single, and Payson Coleman followed with a bunt single, which scored two on an error. Venghaus then delivered an RBI single to make it 9-5.
We were pretty clean tonight, and we had the bats come through at the end,“ said Venghaus. ”I'm just proud to see the boys fight back and win one.“
Venghaus’ two RBIs led the Panthers. Carter Amos and Payton Walker both collected two hits and an RBI, as did Sitar.
Ben Newton went 1-for-2 with an RBI at the plate, and also started the game on the mound, giving up five runs over five innings.
Washington’s Ethan Patterson was 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Caleb Zieglowsky and Lucas Zahs each had an RBI, and Isaac Vetter collected three hits
Zahs started the game on the mound for the Demons, giving up four runs (three earned) over 3.2 innings. James Strabala threw 2.1 frames, giving up five runs (two earned).
Washington still leads Mt. Pleasant in the SEC standings, as the Demons sit 2-6 overall and 2-1 in conference play. They’ll travel to Fort Madison (3-5, 1-2) for a Thursday doubleheader. The Panthers are 2-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play, and will host Keokuk (2-7, 0-3) on Thursday.
