Panther offense keeps rolling
· Yahoo Sports
Jun. 26—Over the past three games, the Panthers have averaged more than 10 runs per game, capped by an 11-0 shut out of Shenandoah at home Tuesday.
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Against Kuemper Catholic Monday, the Panthers split a doubleheader, winning a narrow game one 8-7 and falling 21-13 in the second.
In game one Monday, the Panthers held a 6-2 lead going into the sixth inning, but the Knights mounted a comeback, scoring three in the sixth to be down just one run heading into the final inning.
In the seventh, Creston put up two runs, giving them a three-run lead. In the bottom of the seventh, Kuemper's Addison Schon hit her second home run of the night to start the inning. From there, four more runners got on base, Ellee Schreck scoring their seventh run. With bases loaded and only one run needed to force extra innings, second baseman Sidney McDonald caught a line drive to end the game.
"We were a little bit rough, but we ended up being able to stop them from scoring," coach Gracie Hagle said.
In game two, it was an offensive showdown. "It was kind of just a hitting battle; I'm not going to lie. They would score, we would score, they would score, we would score," Hagle said. "I thought our girls played really well. They were hitting the ball really, really well."
Three girls scored three times — Avery Staver, Jensan Tussey and Ricci Johnston. In the top of the third, Staver hit a grand slam, her eighth homer of the season.
Kennedy Strider pitched the first game, striking out eight batters and allowing 11 hits. In the second game, Tussey and Johnston were in the circle, combining for four strikeouts.
At home against Shenandoah, Creston was all gas no brakes, scoring 11 in a four-inning shut out.
"It was honestly good for them because last week we played Shen and, we won, but it didn't go the way this one went," Hagle said "So I think coming in they just wanted to hit better than they did last week. And that's exactly what they did."
The Panthers turned 12 hits into 11 runs, every single girl in the lineup logging at least one hit.
Tussey led the offense with two doubles and three runs on three plate appearances. Johnston scored her second homer of the season on a bomb to left field.
Rohwyn Randall ended the game in the fourth with a two-run single that put Creston up enough for the run rule to come into play.
The Fillies were able to get runners on base, but stranded six through the course of the four innings.
"KK [Strider] is obviously a great pitcher, so she shut down a lot of them," Hagle said. "Sometimes when your pitcher starts to kind of take over a little bit, we kind of get lax in the field and we let the pitcher take care of it. But I think they were able to be able to be like, 'OK, no, if the ball comes to me, we're going to make a play so that it doesn't turn into multiple runs.'"
In facing just 18 batters, Strider had eight strikeouts in the no-hitter, walking five runners and one earning a base on an error at third.
The win moved Creston to 13-7 on the season and 11-7 in the Hawkeye 10. Atlantic is leading the conference with a perfect 18-0 H10 record. Lewis Central is in second and Clarinda third. Creston is fourth.
Thursday, Creston hosted Clarinda for senior night, but scores were not in by press time.