SPRING GARDEN – A lesson the Spring Garden Panthers learned against area baseball rival Westbrook Christian was never let your foot off the gas.
In the third and decisive game of that series, the Panthers built a six-run lead only to watch the Warriors come back and win.
On Monday, the Panthers began another crucial area series at Sand Rock. They got the lead early and scored in every inning.
Meanwhile, senior pitcher Landon Gowens baffled the Wildcat bats. He scattered three hits, a walk, a hit batsman and allowed just one earned run in six innings in the Panthers’ 13-1 Class 2A, Area 12 victory.
“We didn’t get content,” first-year Spring Garden coach Cole Murphy said. “It was something we struggled on against Westbrook. In game three, we were up 6-0 and kind of got content. They came back and beat us, so that’s something we’ve been talking about, finishing the game. That’s what we did today. We stayed strong the whole time. We didn’t get too relaxed. Defensively we made the plays and ended the game on a good note.”
So, too, did Gowens. He seemed to get stronger as the game went along. He retired eight Wildcat hitters on ground balls, with five of those coming to second baseman Gavin Bass.
“They’re going to hit the ball. They’ve always been able to, so I just filled it up and did what I was supposed to,” Gowens said. “I had good defense behind me, and we put up runs like we were supposed to.”
“He did a great job coming out here and hitting his spots, and we played great defense behind him. That’s what we’ve been wanting to do,” Murphy said. “We had Chapel (Pope) diving and catching a fly ball. Gavin was a lock-down at second base. We made plays at shortstop. We did a good job all the way around. That was the defensive game we needed just to get us back going.”
And it wasn’t just pitching and defense the Panthers (11-8, 4-2) had working for them. They also pounded out 10 hits at the plate.
Leadoff batter Chaz Pope doubled twice and drove in a pair of runs. Chapel Pope added a pair of singles, a pair of walks and drove in three runs. Reece Winstead singled twice and drove in three runs. Bass doubled, singled, walked and drove in a run. Connor Bates doubled and walked twice. Andrew Floyd finished with a walk, was hit by a pitch and drove in a pair of runs.
Trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the second, Sand Rock (5-4, 4-3) pushed across a run in the bottom half of the inning. Morgan Tucker walked with one out. Pinch runner Peyton Williams scored on a single to right by Caleb Yoder.
But that would be the only run Gowens yielded, and the Panther hitters kept adding to the lead. They scored a run in the third, and three runs in each of the next three innings.
“In the blink of an eye it was 13-1,” first-year Sand Rock coach Cody Short said. “We had some walks and made an error or two, but they just hit it. They can flat out just hit. They hit it where we weren’t for a stretch, and the next thing you know it’s 13-1.”
“When (Gowens) is on, it’s tough. You’ve got to hope they mess up and you’re pitching real well too and keep it close at the end. We didn’t do that. We’ll see how it goes Thursday.”
As Short alluded, the two teams finish the series at Spring Garden on Thursday beginning at 4:30 p.m.
“Getting game one is huge,” Murphy said. “I’ve been telling the guys when we play Sand Rock, if we can’t sweep them, then we’re going to struggle in the playoffs. They’re a well-coached team. They play great defense. They hit the ball and put it in play. You’re going to see those types of teams in the playoffs. If you can’t sweep them now, then you’re going to struggle in the playoffs. That was our mindset today, and it will be on Thursday too.”