Don Kuhnen, AP Sports
The EP Panthers boys varsity baseball team continued their torrid hitting and slugged the Morrison Mustangs 11-3 Thursday afternoon.
The game was hosted by Morrison at NelsonCorp stadium in Clinton on a beautiful afternoon. The Panthers started the scoring as Bryce Rosenow led off with a walk, stole second and scored on a solid single to right by Dawson Haggard. Morrison responded with 2 runs of their own but didn’t score again until the last at bat of the game.
EP tied the game in the second as a result of a Mason Misfeldt sacrifice fly and the Panthers jumped on the Mustangs with 3 more in their third. Austin Cole drove in Haggard and Jamie Miner who made a nice tag eluding slide at home. Kolby Franks then drove in Cole to put EP up 5-2.
In the Panthers fifth inning, Cole and Franks reached on walks to set the stage for more scoring. RBIs from Logan Wunderlich and Simon Weidel and 2 wild pitches gave the Panthers a commanding 9-2 advantage.
In the last inning, EP added a couple more. Singles by Weidel and Dawson Van Horn set the table for Miner who came through with the only extra base hit of the night which drove in both runners. Morrison scored a single run in the bottom of the seventh to make the final 11-3.
Panthers with 2 hits each included: Miner, Rosenow and Weidel. EP starter Dawson Haggard picked up the win allowing 1 hit and 1 earned run over 3 2/3 innings. Rosenow finished the last 3 1/3 innings giving up 4 hits and 1 earned run.
Coach Brad Tichler was very pleased with the hitting and improved pitching from the Panther staff which helped get a second conference win.
EP is now 3-2 overall and 2-1 in conference. The Panthers travel to Princeton Tuesday afternoon for a 4:30 contest.
