Creek Johnson tags a Lawson player at third base in the Panthers 4-3, eight inning loss on March 30.
Since its 1-1 start to the season, the North Platte baseball team (2-3) has been in three consecutive close games and pulled out its most recent one.
The Panthers came up short against East Buchanan (6-1) in a low scoring 2-0 affair on March 28. After North Platte’s first road game, it erased an early deficit against Lawson (8-1) and forced extra innings before losing 4-3 on March 30 and bounced back with an 8-5 come-from-behind victory against St. Joseph Christian (4-2) on April 3.
East Buchanan scored a run in the bottom of the first and fifth innings and only allowed one hit, which was by Dylan Armstrong. North Platte was unable to put any runs on the board for the first time this year as Colton Kirkham struck out 14 Bulldogs in six innings.
The Panthers gave up some runs in the top of the first inning once again when Lawson had a double and a triple to go up 2-0 in North Platte’s ensuing contest. Benjamin Jaycox and Creek Johnson singled in back-to-back at bats in the bottom of the fourth inning and Jaycox scored on an error by the Cardinals with two outs later in the inning.
A Lawson error and a walk with the bases loaded allowed North Platte to take a 3-2 lead in the ensuing inning. The Panthers had three singles in the inning, including an RBI line drive by Chance Garber.
The Cardinals tied the game on a bunting situation that the Panthers had an error on in the top of the sixth inning. The first three North Platte batters in the top of the sixth inning got on base, but Lawson forced three consecutive outs.
The night needed an eighth inning to decide a victor, with the final run being scored on a steal at home with two outs. All three North Platte batters failed to get on base in the bottom of the eighth inning and Lawson came away with a 1-run win.
A huge sixth inning surge helped North Platte pull off its first road win of the season against St. Joseph Christian. Trailing 4-2 ahead of the inning, the Panthers erupted for six runs and four singles.
The Lions put plenty of Panthers in scoring position with five walks in the inning as Jaycox and Wesley Meadows both had RBI singles. Kaden Mullendore also batted in Jaycox on a fielder’s choice ground ball.
The Lions added one run in the bottom of the sixth inning but weren’t able to erase the deficit as the Panthers won 8-5. Kirkham had two hits and two RBIs and Garber had one hit and two RBIs.
Mullendore struck out five batters with a little over three innings pitched. North Platte will look to earn its first conference win of the season when it heads to West Platte (4-2) on April 6.