Elsah, IL. -- The Principia Panthers finished their series with the Blackburn Beavers on a rainy Saturday. The Panthers sent Alex Stamos to the mound. The Beavers struck first scoring two in the first as Stamos worked to get comfortable on the muddy mound. The Panthers were held scoreless through two innings but jumped ahead in the third. With one out, Parker Davidson singled followed by an Ed Bargmann single. With two outs, Aleq McMullin worked a walk to load the bases. Jake Kearney singled scoring two. Stephen Strong doubled and picked up two more RBIs. A Panther error led to two unearned runs as Blackburn tied things up in the fourth. Ryan Eisenauer led the home half of the fourth off with a single. Good hustle moved him to third on a wild pitch which allowed him to score a batter later on another wild pitch. The Panthers took the lead 5-4 and didn't relinquish the lead. The Panther offense gave Stamos some breathing room as they tacked on four more in the fifth and an extra run in the sixth as they took the 10-4 lead. Zach Grennie hit another home run and Jake Kearney led the offense with 3 hits.
In between games, the Panthers recognized and honored the Cheatham Family. Former Panther, Alan Cheatham caught the celebratory first pitch, a strike, delivered by his father, Scott Cheatham. The press box now bares the name, Cheatham Stadium to remember the impact the family has had on the success and support for Principia Baseball.
Game two looked like it had the makings for a pitchers duel. Aleq McMullin started and had 11 strikeouts on the evening. After two strikeouts in the first, Blackburn again jumped on top, this time by way of a two-run home run. With the lead now 7-4 the Beavers, with two outs, added to their lead with another home run, the second of the game for Ryan Steen.
The Panthers didn't go down quietly as they scored two in the seventh to make things interesting. After scoring again in the 8th, to cut the lead to one, the Panthers were unable to finish the comeback attempt.
They said it:
"We have a lot of fight in us, that's for sure. We definitely didn't make it easy for them. Give Blackburn credit for holding on as we tried to make things interesting. It's never fun to lose but to see how we keep competing even when we're down, and down by a lot, I am proud of how we kept battling."
-- Head Coach Chris Marston
Up Next:
The Panthers will be away against Webster on Tuesday for a double header at GCS Ballpark, home of the Gateway Grizzles in Saguet, IL.
