Park Hill found a break in the weather and took full opportunity of the reprieve from rain.
Four pitchers combined to throw two shutouts in a sweep of Oak Park on Saturday, April 1 at Oak Park High School. The Trojans won 5-0 and 8-0 in their first games played since the season-opening Metro Leadoff Classic.
Park Hill’s Liam Henry (five innings) and Bryce Balusek (two innings) allowed just four hits in the opener. The left-handed ace of the staff, Henry stuck out six and walked two, while Balusek struck out one and walked one in two clean relief innings.
Park Hill scored three in the second to take the lead for good and added a single insurance run in both the top of the sixth and top of the seventh.
Austin Brooks went 2-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored. Henry and Joseph Daneff also had doubles among the Trojans’ 13 hits.
In the second game of the afternoon, Park Hill needed four runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh to back the pitching efforts of Conner Morehouse and Daneff. Henry and Mertz drove in three runs apiece, while Tyler Watson, Trevor Guzzo and Henry scored two apiece.
Henry went 2-for-3 with two doubles.
Morehouse started for Park Hill and allowed three hits and four walks in four innings. Daneff pitched three innings and earned the win, allowing just one hit and two walks.
The duo combined to strike out eight — seven for Morehouse.
Park Hill South 7, Raytown 0
The Panthers scored six times in the top of the seventh to pull away in a Suburban Conference Red Division matchup Tuesday, March 28 in Raytown, Mo.
The first five batters reached base in the inning with senior shortstop Ryan Hagen scoring one with a single, and designated hitter Stephen Personelli adding a sacrifice fly for another. After a Collin Brougham double, Alex Rodriguez drove in the final two runs with a single.
Park Hill South’s first run was unearned in the fifth after Rodriguez reached on an error and scored two batters later on Malik Stevenson’s double.
Hagen earned the win on the mound after striking out 10 and allowing just three hits and two walks in the first six innings. Raytown put two on in the bottom of the third but stranded runners at second and third base after Hagen struck out the next two hitters and then induced an inning-ending groundout to second.