The Park Hill South baseball team (13-7) was on the verge of winning its fourth straight, but the game slipped away in the final inning against Lee’s Summit (6-11) on April 17.
Cason Lett
In a high-scoring affair that saw 27 hits – 14 by Lee’s Summit and 13 by Park Hill South – the Panthers led 9-5 after the fifth inning. Having trailed all night up to this point, the Tigers erupted for five runs to go up 10-9.
Park Hill South loaded the bases before receiving a single out in the bottom of the sixth inning and tied the game when Bryan Wilhoite was walked. Lee’s Summit switched pitchers and closed out the inning with two straight strikeouts and a pop fly.
With the final inning of regulation going scoreless, the game went into extra innings tied at 10. The Tigers had two runners on base with only one out and scored two to take a 12-10 lead.
The Panthers had one last chance and had Evan Demint and Collin Morris on base with only one out on the board. Brody Hufft struck out and Cason Lett stepped up to the plate and made contact with the pitch, but it was caught, and the game ended, along with Park Hill South’s 3-game winning streak.
Park Hill South was coming off a pair of wins against Rockhurst (7-10) and Liberty (10-9) on April 12 and 14. The Panthers moved to 5-1 at home after those two victories.
The Hawklets scored three runs in the top of the first inning, but the Panthers locked up defensively and only allowed two more hits the rest of the way. In the bottom of the second, Park Hill South started the comeback – putting one run on the board – thanks to Christian Denig being walked with the bases loaded.
The Panthers left one runner on in the third inning and Aaron Boutz got called stealing in the fourth inning. In the fifth inning, Park Hill South had two hits and had two players walked to tie the game.
With Morris and Wilhoite on, Hufft stepped up to the plate and delivered. The senior Panther connected with a line drive that ended up being a triple and sent his teammates home, tying the game 3-3.
All three of Rockhurst’s batters in the fifth inning got out, but Park Hill South strung together four hits to take its first lead of the day. Boutz singled and Denig hit a double to send the two into scoring position on second and third bases.
Michael Cook had an RBI single to put Park Hill South up 4-3. The Panthers loaded the bases after Wilhoite singled, but the Hawklets forced three outs before another run was scored.
Rockhurst had one last chance to extend the game in the seventh inning and had two of its first four batters on base. With a runner on first and third bases and two outs, Morris sealed the victory when the outfielder caught a pop fly.
Hufft went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Quinton Chidamo struck out five batters in six innings.
For the first time since 2019, Park Hill South took down Liberty (9-9) on April 14. The Blue Jays fell behind early and made a comeback before losing 7-6.
The Panthers went up 4-1 through two innings and held on to that lead and eventually the score was 5-4 in their favor going into the sixth inning. With two outs and one runner on in the bottom of the sixth inning, Hufft had an RBI double.
Cason Lett made contact with a line drive and singled, sending Hufft across home plate and Park Hill South’s lead was up to 7-4 with one inning to go. The Blue Jays’ first two batters had hits – scoring one run – but the Panthers ended up surviving, 7-6.
Wilhoite led Park Hill South with three hits in just as many at-bats and Lett ended the day with two hits and three RBIs. Boutz had five strikeouts in five innings and had the save.