By: Joe Blystone
PETTISVILLE – Wins haven’t come easy for Delta in the last few baseball seasons, but the Panthers picked up a little momentum heading into this weekend’s state tournament draw by knocking off Pettisville 6-1.
The win was the third of the season for the Panthers. “We needed it,” Delta coach Kevin Freeman expressed of the win. “Wins have been scarce this year and we’ll take a win when we can get it.”
“This was a good team effort. We had guys that got hits that needed some hits and they scrapped a little bit and found ways to get themselves on base today.”
A pair of Pettisville errors and Landon Griesinger’s double into the left center field gap brought home two Delta runs in the top of the second to give the Panthers the lead for good.
Meanwhile sophomore Brady Morr was throwing goose eggs at the Blackbirds.
“He was good tonight,” Freeman said. “We have been preaching that you have to throw strikes and make them put the ball in play and give us a chance to get someone out.”
“For the most part Brady did that today, he limited the walks and that was a key.”
Morr gave up only a second inning single to Sebastian May and a third inning base hit to Creighton Aeschliman in the first four innings to keep Pettisville off the board.
Joel Arroyo-Sierra floated a two-strike base hit to left to mark Bryce Gillen in the third, then two innings later, the Panther right-fielder brought home two more with yet another two-strike hit to left that scored Gillen who had led off with a double and Caleb Lantz who walked.
“Joel is a good two-strike hitter, he will find a way to put the ball in play,” explained Freeman. “Sometimes he doesn’t hit it hard but it’s where he hits it when he puts it in play and makes things happen. Those hits tonight were big hits for us.”
Pettisville escaped further damage when left fielder Luke VanDenBerghe gunned down Arroyo-Sierra at the plate trying to score on the fly ball, but the Panthers lead had grown to 5-0.
Bradyn Ruffer’s two out single in the sixth brought home the Panthers final tally.
Back-to-back errors on the Panthers allowed the only Pettisville run in the fifth. Arroyo-Sierra made the defensive play of the night when he made a running catch in the sixth, then doubled a Pettisville runner off first for a double play.
Morr gave up just two hits and walked three picking up the victory. Rylan Warner took the loss for Pettisville.
DELTA 021 021 0 – 6 8 2
PETTISVILLE 000 010 0 – 1 3 2
Records: Delta 3-13, Pettisville 0-14
WINNING PITCHER: Morr (6 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 0 earned, 6 strikeouts, 3 walks) Other: Waugh
LOSING PITCHER: Warner (5.2 innings, 8 hits, 6 runs, 4 earned, 7 strikeouts, 2 walk) Other: Ripke
LEADING HITTERS: (Delta) Gillen – double, single, 2 runs; Morr – double; Arroyo-Sierra – 2 singles, 3 RBIs; Griesinger – double, RBI; (Pettisville) – 3 singles
Joe can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com