The Panthers led by one throughout most of the contest before giving up two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Riverdale moves on with a 25-4 record while the Panthers bow out at 16-12. EP entered the contest as the #8 seed but with their hitting of late expected to give the Rams a battle.
The top of the first started well as Laken Renkes drew a walk, Chloe Hamilton singled and Ava Grawe walked to load the bases. Lilly Swatos singled hard up the middle driving in the first run. A home to first double play by the Rams and then a strikeout foiled the Panther uprising.
The home team Rams came right back with a walk, hit by pitch and two singles to take a 2-1 lead after one.
In the Panther third, Hamilton lined a single to left. On a fielder’s choice grounder by Grawe, the first baseman over threw the runner at third base allowing the Panthers to tie the game. Wynn Renkes followed with a RBI single to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead they would nurse until the last inning.
In Riverdale’s fifth inning, a single by their leadoff hitter started a threat. After a strikeout, EP intentionally walked hard hitting Brooklyn Peterson for the third time and followed with a walk to Todd. Panther Ayden Klendworth then relieved starter Wynn Renkes who got a fielder’s choice out at home and a groundout to second to stop the rally preserving the Panther 3-2 lead.
Grawe, the Panthers leading home run hitter for the season, connected a long drive to left in EP’s fifth but was thrown out at third stopping another Panther scoring opportunity.
Peterson led off the Ram seventh with a bloop single and advanced to second on a walk. A solid single up the middle tied the game and left runners on first and second with no-one out. A wild pitch moved both runners up and a grounder to second scored the winning run as the tag was late.
Renkes pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up 3 hits, walking 5, and striking out 2. Klendworth worked 1 2/3 giving up 2 hits, walking 3, and striking out 1.
Swatos and Hamilton led the Panther hitters with 2 hits a piece while Swatos and Leah Richmond had the 2 Panther RBIs.
Head Coach Jessie Russell commented after the hard fought contest “Tonight’s game was a culmination of all the hard work we have put in this season and we have absolutely nothing to hang our heads about. We played together as a team for each other and we left it all on the field. To our seniors, thank you for a fun season and your dedication to this team. We showed everyone who we are tonight and we made the program proud!”
