Panthers take two conference road wins

COUNCIL BLUFFS — The end of the Panthers baseball season has been a flurry of completing postponed conference games, but that hasn’t derailed Creston’s focus.

After winning conference road games at Shenandoah and St. Albert Wednesday, The Panthers boast a 20-9 overall record, 14-4 in the Hawkeye 10. Clarinda has the title locked up with an 18-1 conference record.

In the morning, Creston defeated the Mustangs 2-0. Parker Varner pitched, throwing 10 strikeouts, allowing only three hits and no runs. His performance on the mound now leads the Panthers with 66 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.34. He’s pitched a team-high 14 games. His strikeouts rank 11th in Class 3A.

McCoy Haines and Tanner Ray were scorers for the Panthers, Haines scoring on a single from Varner in the second. Ray’s run was in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Dylan Hoepker.

Creston had clean fielding, no errors marring the shut out. Haines had three catches in the outfield to bring his season total to 37.

That evening, the Panthers played at St. Albert where they fended off a seventh-inning comeback to win 7-6. Cael Turner pitched all but the final out after reaching his pitch count. He threw five strikeouts, allowing 11 hits and six runs.

The St. Albert went through four pitchers as they attempted to stop the Panther offense. Sam Henry went 3-4 at bat for two runs to lead Creston scoring. Hoepker was 3-5 for one run and Mattias Schultes was 2-3 for two RBIs.

Going into the bottom of the seventh, the Panthers had a 7-1 lead, but the Falcons launched a comeback attempt that nearly saw the Panther lead overturned.

St. Albert got two on base right away with only one out. They followed that with four consecutive singles and a double to send in five runs. With bases loaded and two outs, Tyler Riley caught a ball in right field to end the game.

Tonight, the Panthers host Denison-Schleswig in a makeup doubleheader after the game was stopped early in the bout June 27. The game will begin in the bottom of the second with the Panthers at bat. The Monarchs lead 3-2.

The game will recognize the teams’ seven seniors — Dylan Hoepker, Cael Turner, Sam Henry, McCoy Haines, Quinten Fuller, Milo Staver and Gavin Millslagle.