Trojans strike first, Panthers punch back

MT. PLEASANT — In typical Mt. Pleasant-Fairfield fashion, the Southeast Conference baseball doubleheader at Mapleleaf Athletic Complex on Monday night had everybody on the edge of their seats.

The Panthers and Trojans went tooth-and-nail for 14-straight innings. Neither team had a lead of move than two runs and both squads walked out with one victory. Fairfield took Game 1, 4-2, and Mt. Pleasant won Game 2, 3-2.

“It’s been a battle with them for years,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Brent Broeker. That’s just fun baseball. It’s what you want to see.“

Mt. Pleasant had things going early in Game 1 as Carter Amos plated one with a sacrifice fly. Fairfield got that run back on an RBI single by Connor Lyons in the third, but Amos knocked in another with a double in the bottom half of the inning.

The Trojans responded with one run each in the fourth and fifth. Lyons, who started the game, battled late to hold off the Panther offense.

With Fairfield up 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Mt. Pleasant squandered away a bases-loaded one-out situation. The Trojans avoided disaster on a soft grounder by Amos when Lyons came off the mound to scoop it home to get the lead runner, and Trojan catcher Caden Allison barehanded the ball just in time to get the out.

“Connor had the little glove flip, and then Caden was able to get it, and it wasn’t an easy play,” Fairfield coach Josh Allison said. “That was a really, really big, important play.”

After getting the next out on a groundout, the Trojans would tack one on in the seventh when Evan Haines scored on double steal.

Lyons struck out six batters through 6.2 innings of work to earn the win, and also knocked in the Trojans’ only RBI. Kooper Keldgord and Payton Hagans combined on the mound for the Panthers.

Mt. Pleasant had its hands full in Game 2 with Nate Smithburg on the mound for Fairfield. Trailing 2-1 into the fourth, the Panthers were able to manufacture a run to tie it up and get the Trojan senior out of the game via pitch count.

It was Amos again who delivered for Mt. Pleasant. The Panthers’ junior catcher knocked in Jake Ensminger for the go-ahead run in the fifth frame.

Fairfield had the bases loaded with two outs in the top of the seventh. Ensminger forced a high pop up off the bat of Tate Allen, and Amos tracked it down and made the game-sealing catch against the fence.

“Our kids did a great job of battling back in that second game,” Broeker said.

Amos had the lone RBI for the Mt. Pleasant offense in Game 2. Trevor Wellington earned the win on the mound, throwing two shutout innings in relief of starter Ben Newton.

Fairfield’s Nate Woodburn had two RBIs in Game 2, knocking in Lyons both times. He and Brad Woodburn each pitched in relief for the Trojans.

It was the 41st game between the two rivals since 2010. Mt. Pleasant holds a 23-18 advantage over that time frame, and the two teams have hogged the majority of SEC titles over that time period.

“That’s kind of special about this rivalry that we have,” said Allison. “There’s a lot of respect between these two programs, but no question about it, we like beating each other.”

Fairfield moved to 9-7 overall and 5-4 in the SEC. Mt. Pleasant is now 5-9 overall and 4-6 in league play.