The Panthers bounced back from an ugly loss last week to edge Dawson-Boyd 4-3 on Tuesday.
TMB (4-3, 3-1 Camden) out-hit the Blackjacks 8-4, led by Aiden Snow’s two hits and two RBI. Jackson Kruse had a double, two RBI and scored a run, Carson Lanoue had a hit and reached base three times, and Taylor Squires, Connor Lanoue and Griffin Zick all had a hit and scored one run.
“The lineup was great,” TMB coach James Fultz said. “We didn’t help the opposing pitching, drew a handful of walks and took a handful of batsmen. Only scoring four runs is the one thing I can complain about — we left the bases loaded twice and left runners in scoring position in two other innings as well. But the guys played great; they really earned this win.”
Connor Lanoue was lights out on the mound, scattering four hits and striking out seven while walking just one in the completegame win to improve to 2-0.
“Connor was great on the mound today,” Fultz said. “He had all three pitches working and was in a great rhythm.”
D-B 020 001 0 — 3 4 0 TMB 300 010 x — 4 8 2 Lanoue (W, 2-0) and Squires. 2B: Kruse.
APRIL 17: LQPV 20, TMB 12
The Panthers were victims of two of their worst innings in years in a 20-12 homeopening loss to Lac qui Parle Valley last Thursday.
After a scoreless first inning, the Eagles erupted for nine runs in the second, fueled by TMB errors, hit batsmen, doubles and a home run.
“ Games like this, you take all the good stuff and hopefully carry it to the next game, and all the bad stuff you learn from it and leave it with the team we just played,” TMB manager James Fultz said. “The guys know we didn’t play well today, and luckily its only game six, so we have more chances to get better and improve in the areas we struggled with.”
But as bad the bleeding got, TMB’s offense provided a Band-Aid. The Panthers had a big inning of their own in the second, plating five runs as they started the clawing-back process. TMB loaded the bases multiple times, and time and time again, cashed in.
Brody Hauger singled with the bases juiced, scoring two runners to get TMB on the board; Aiden Sanow scored from third on a wild pitch; Brayden Marron walked to score another run; Taylor Squires knocked in two with a base hit. All that helped cut TMB’s deficit to 9-5.
“Everything on the offensive side was good for us to see,” said Fultz. “We had some guys that haven’t had a ton of success at the plate this year make some solid contact and get rolling in the right direction.”
The Panthers kept clawing, too. They pushed across three more runs in their half of the third, cutting the lead to 9-8 on a run-scoring single by Connor Lanoue.
In the fourth, reliever Jackson Kruse pitched out of a bases-loaded jam, and TMB struck again in the bottom half of the inning. David Schuh tripled with one out and scored on a throw from home to first to retire a TMB batter.
So we had a game … until the fifth, when LQPV’s offense came back to life. The Eagles scored three in the fifth and put all the nails they would need for this coffin with a big eight-run inning.
TMB made five errors on the day.
“For us to win games, we need to keep the error number at two or less, and that didn’t happen today,” Fultz said.
Hauger, Sanow, Schuh, Kruse and Lanoue all had two hits, and Hauger drove in four runs. Sanow scored twice, and Hauger and Schuh both cross the plate two times.
On the mound, the Panthers used five pitchers, with Kruse getting the most work with 3-1/3 innings; he got the loss.
LQVP 090 038 0 — 20 16 1 TMB 053 103 0 — 12 12 5 Zick, Kruse (L, 2), Hauger (5), Sanow (6) and Squires and Carson Lanoue. 2B: Hauger. 3B: Schuh
