By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

SPRING GARDEN – Spring Garden senior pitcher Clayton Sadler admitted he didn’t have his best stuff against Cedar Bluff on Tuesday evening, but he didn’t have to. He trusted his defense to make the plays behind him.

The result was a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts through 6 2/3 innings on 124 pitches.

Sadler didn’t allow the Tigers a hit until Sam Payne led off the top of the fourth with an infield single.

“Six and 2/3 innings with 12 strikeouts is a pretty good day,” Panther head coach Kyle Garmon said. “I thought we played pretty good defense behind him.”

Garmon also tweaked Spring Garden’s lineup on Tuesday, which also helped Sadler and Panthers post a 10-3 victory.

“I just try to get in the zone when I’m up there,” Sadler said. “I didn’t pitch my greatest tonight, but I’ve got to give a lot of credit to my outfielders and my infield. They made the plays.

“I’m also proud of the way everybody hit. I think switching up the batting order is helping us. We’re getting more hits put together in one inning rather than having a hit here and there. Everybody hit the ball pretty well. We didn’t hit the ball with power, but we hit the ball and put it in places where we needed to.”

One of those players who put the ball in play was junior catcher Brady Ruark. Garmon moved Ruark from the two spot down to fifth in the lineup, and Ruark responded with a 4-for-4 night which included a double and three RBIs.

“I didn’t bat real well last night (at Cherokee County),” Ruark said. “I was ready to bat second tonight, but then I saw the lineup, and I was like I guess I’ll just hit fifth then. I got a hit and got some confidence and it just went on from there.”

“I think you try to make everything a competition,” Garmon said. “To be able to put that pressure on folks creates a better baseball team. You’ve got to find a way to create that pressure sometimes and not be complacent. You’ve got to keep getting better every game, and I think we’re getting better.”

Spring Garden (3-5) scored at least one run in five of their six plate appearances. After Sadler struck out the side in the top of the first, the Panthers scored a pair of runs, including one on a bloop single by Ruark, to take an early 2-0 lead.

But the Tigers (1-5) battled back in the top of the second tie the game without the benefit of a hit. Bryson Teague was hit by a pitch and Fischer Young walked to lead off the inning. They both scored on wild pitches to tie the game at 2.

Spring Garden regained the lead with three more runs in the bottom of the second. Sadler drew a walk with the bases loaded and Ruark delivered a two-run double to left to make it a 5-2 game.

After Cedar Bluff went scoreless in the top of the third, the Panthers scored two more runs in the bottom half to make it a 7-2 game. Designated hitter Zane Edwards belted a two-run single to left for the big blow in the inning.

Spring Garden added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth on left fielder Eli Bates’ two-run single to left, giving the Panthers a 9-2 advantage.

Sadler added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth with his RBI-single to right that scored Joel Hunter to make it a 10-2 game.

Sadler departed after he allowed another Tiger unearned run and recorded a pair of strikeouts in the top of the seventh. Zack Scogin came in for relief and retired Young on a ground out to second for the final.

Hunter and Bates both went 3-for-4 at the plate for the Panthers. Hunter also walked. Sadler was 2-for-2 with a walk, and Edwards finished 1-for-3 with a hit by pitch.

Teague singled, walked, and was hit by a pitch for the Tigers. Payne and Kadien Tracy both had infield singles. Young walked twice and Bryant Gravley once.

Kuper Bradley suffered the loss for the Tigers. He tossed 4 2/3 innings with three strikeouts.

“The thing for us so far this season is being able to string (hits) together for consecutive innings,” Cedar Bluff first-year head coach Ross Johnson said. “We’re young and have some inexperience, but that’s no excuse. We’ve got to keep playing. At some point, our bats will get hot.

“We’ve had a lot of big innings this year, but putting it together for seven innings is a big emphasis point for us going forward.”

Cedar Bluff is at Section on Thursday. Spring Garden is at Sand Rock on Friday.