December 25, 2024

Panther baseball hangs with ranked Rams

By CARTER ECKL

Creston baseball coach Steve Birchard (right) and Southeast Polk coach Dave Hartman meet with the umpires prior to Tuesday's game on the Rams' turf field in Pleasant Hill. Hartman is a 1984 graduate of Creston High School and former assistant for two-time Rams state champion coach Scott Belger, also a Creston native. (CNA photo)

PLEASANT HILL – There are still kinks to work out, but a 4-0 road loss to Class 4A No. 7 Southeast Polk Tuesday for the Creston baseball team proved a few points head coach Steve Birchard has been trying to make to his team.

The Panthers surrendered two runs in the bottom half of the first inning, but the pitching staff that has been a big focus in the season’s early going held its own the rest of the way.

In fact, Birchard thought that without a couple of walks the Panthers potentially had a one-run game on their hands with the Rams.

“If you get rid of the free passes you certainly give yourself a better chance. Pitching was certainly there for the most part, most of the night,” said Birchard.

The Rams manufactured their first run of the game after taking a free base on a hit by pitch, stealing second and then crossing the plate on a single from Calvin Harris.

Southeast Polk’s final run came on a hit batsman in the third inning as the Rams ended the contest with five hits. It was the five walks and three hit batters that came back to get Creston.

“With the exception of one little stint in the third inning, ... it was encouraging,” said Birchard. “We can play with good teams and we didn’t have any errors.”

At the plate Gavin Gillam led off the top of the second inning with a single and James McDonald walked to give the Panthers an early scoring threat, but the Rams responded with two strikeouts and induced a lineout to end the inning.

Cole Strider tried to get things started with another leadoff hit in the third, but the Rams’ starter, Jack Benson, stranded him after retiring the next three Creston batters.

Bryce Fitzgerald and Evan Bruce were the only other Panthers to reach base via a single and a walk, respectively, but neither made it into scoring positions.

“We didn’t move the ball very well,” said Birchard. “It was tough to muster any offense.”

Benson and Austin Enos ended the night by striking out 13 Creston batters.

Birchard noted that the Southeast Polk hurlers weren’t throwing at an excessive speed, but the ball was reaching the plate quicker than the Panthers have seen this year.

“We just got to start picking it up better and getting more contact,” Birchard said. “Just got to get better at adapting to the velocity.”

UP NEXT – Creston (1-4) will get to play on its home field in a doubleheader against Kuemper Catholic (6-3) Thursday, starting at 5:30 p.m.

Southeast Polk 4, Creston 0

R H E

Crest  000  000 0 —  0  3  0

SEP  202  000 x —  4  5  0

Crest: Keagan Smith 1K 1BB 1HBP, Daniel Merritt (3) 0K 2BB, Luke Latham (3) 2K 0BB, Eli Loudon (6) 0K 2BB and Gavin Gillam. SEP: Jack Benson 8K 1BB, Austin Enos (6) 5K 1BB and Austin DuToit. W — Benson (3-0). L – Smith (0-2). HR – None. 3B — None. 2B — None. RBIs: SEP: Calvin Harris, Jack Allison, Mason Poreep, Kaleb Krier.