Panthers Cruise To Semifinals With 13-3 Win Over Cannons

The message is get ahead, stay ahead and advance into the semifinals of the HSBN Fall Classic.

“We had a plan in place,” Panthers Baseball Club assistant coach Nick Mangenera said. “We wanted to stay short with our approach and get on the board early. We left so many opportunities on the board last night that it was crucial we got on the board early.”

The Panthers took the message to heart, as they scored early and often en route to the their 13-3 rout.

The Panthers got off to a solid start, scoring nine runs in the first three innings.

The Panthers did their damage in the first with two outs. After a walk and a double, Matt Rothenberg delivered a two-run single. Ben Fielder added another run with an RBI single to left.

In the second inning, the Panthers took advantage of a walk and two hits to extend their lead to 5-0. Chandler Cissel and Chris Koppenhaver delivered RBI singles.

The Cannons tried to change the momentum with a pitching change in the third, but Michael Gonzalez could not find the strike zone, walking the bases loaded before leaving the game.

The Panthers took advantage, scoring on a bases-loaded walk and two-run double by Cissel. Koppenhaver ended the scoring with an RBI groundout, extending the lead to 9-0.

The Cannons clawed their way back into the game, scoring two in the third and one in the fourth. They took advantage of three walks and a passed ball to score two runs in the third before Gonzalez took a 1-1 fastball over the right field fence to make it 9-3 in the fourth.

However, the 3-4-5 hitters of the Panthers continued their offensive prowess, scoring four more runs to run-rule the Cannons.

Cissel chipped in three hits and four RBI, while cleanup hitter Koppenhaver had two hits and two RBI. Rothenberg, who fell a homer short of a cycle and tossed two scoreless frames, added three hits and four RBIs.

“I saw the ball well,” Rothenberg said. “We worked all we week on getting pitches up in the zone, and I took advantage. I wanted to stay short and hit balls up the middle.”

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