Through much of the contest, it looked as though a Logan Walters two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning would be the only score in the books, but a flurry of runs in the bottom of the sixth gave the Panthers a dominating 7-1 victory over rival Oak Grove on Thursday night.
"Logan [Walters] jump-started us there in the first inning getting some offense and giving us a little cushion. Blake [Hooks] did a great job of coming in and throwing strikes," said Petal head coach Shane Kelly.
Hooks also threw the ball well, throwing five complete innings while striking out five and allowing just two hits.
"He's got a lot of movement on his ball and it is tough for hitters to dig into the box. I thought he mixed pitches well tonight."
DeeJay Booth started on the mound for Oak Grove but was pulled after one inning as Walters hit a two-run home run to give Petal the early lead. Booth did strike out three Panther batters during his one inning on the mound.
JP Lyon came in for Oak Grove on the mound in the second inning, keeping zeros across the board for the Warriors while Hooks did the same for the Panthers.
The scoreboard didn’t change until the top of the sixth inning when Oak Grove’s Turner Swistak found himself a single off of Panthers pitcher Matt Mercer. Sophomore Quintin Sterling came in as a pinch-runner, finding his way to third base, and finally home plate when Zach Little flew out to centerfield on a sac fly play to draw within one, 2-1.
Petal quickly answered in the bottom of the sixth, scoring five runs. An error and walk started the bottom of the inning, A fielder’s choice, and infield fly gave the Warriors two outs, however, Petal junior Eli Britt was hit by a pitch to put him on base and load the bases for Petal. Two-straight singles from Petal seniors Mercer and Cade Law brought a pair of Panthers each in, giving Petal a 6-1 lead. That ended the night for Warrior pitcher JP Lyon.
Sophomore Micah Daniell came in for Oak Grove to try and get the final out. He did get the strikeout to end the inning, but not before giving up one more run as Devin Stringer singled to bring in a Panther, giving them the 7-1 lead.
“Our guys just stayed with their approach and what we had been doing the whole game. We just didn’t get those hit earlier in the game. They didn’t panic and just stayed within themselves. Finally, we started getting those hits like I knew we could do and what we are built to do,” said Kelly on the five-run sixth inning.”
A quick top of the seventh inning saw Oak Grove strand one runner on base as junior Garrett Barger came in for the Panthers to close the Warriors out.
Petal improves to 8-2 overall on the season while Oak Grove drops to 9-2 overall. Both teams are 1-1 in district play.
