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BASEBALL: Panthers big to beat Steeleville

Posted March 31, 2012 11:00 pm

Doug Daniels

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[C.J. Opp allowed just one hit and a pair of walks while striking out ten batters and Pinckneyville had fourteen hits in a 14-0 five-inning shutout of Steeleville on Thursday at Rigdon Field, the fourth win in a row for the Panthers.

"C.J. threw the ball really well today," said PCHS head baseball coach Alan Engelhardt. "They were overmatched and he took advantage of it, and that's what you want somebody to do, you don't want them to play around. He went right after them. It's good to get him going before we get into conference play next week."

Dylan Hardin singled and Opp walked to lead off the bottom of the first for the Panthers, then both advanced on a wild pitch with Bryant Shute at the dish. Shute then singled to plate Hardin, and Opp would score on a flyout by Joey Burris for a 2-0 lead.

From there, the Warriors were in trouble. Opp struck out nine batters and retired eight in a row at one point on his way to victory number one on the season.

Marian Brammeier and Dustin VanMeter would later add home runs as the Panthers poured it on with three runs in the bottom of the second inning, six in the third and three more in the fourth.

Hardin (3-3, 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI) had three hits at the plate on the day for PCHS. Opp (2-2, 2B, 2 R, RBI), Shute (2-3, 2B, R, RBI), Burris (1-2, BB, 2 RBI), Brammeier (1-1, BB, HBP, HR), VanMeter (1-1, HR, 2 RBI) Evan Chapman (1-3, 2B, 2 RBI), Hunter Queen (1-2, BB, 2B, 2 R, RBI), Luke Miller (1-1, 2B, R, RBI) and Caleb Dahn (1-1) also had hits for the Panthers.

"When you look at us, we can hit up and down the order," Engelhardt said. "We don't have a bunch of guys where you can say they're going to hit ten or fifteen home runs, but we've got a bunch of guys who could double at any time one-through-nine, and that's dangerous."

"The game is a lot easier when you have several people picking up for each other and hitting the ball because you can swing without pressure."

Sophomore Colton Nelson received his second straight start as the varsity catcher and walked and scored in three plate appearances in addition to being on the receiving end of Opp's shutout.

"He's learning," Engelhardt said of the young catcher, "and that's part of yesterday's process - calling pitches, him being a little unfamiliar with Evan and Joey and some of those guys. That's why you want to get him in there so that he knows what they've got so that later in the year he's ready to go."

The Panthers (4-1) return to action on Monday when they host SIRR Mississippi foe Carterville.

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