Park Hill South split a doubleheader on the final day of the Bartlesville Wood Bat Classic on Saturday, March 31, in Bartlesville, Okla.
The Panthers won 11-3 against Ponca City, Okla., after dropping a 3-2 contest to Bartlesville, Okla.
Park Hill South built a 5-0 lead against Ponca City and then closed with six runs over the final two innings.
Malik Stevenson had a two-run double in the four-run second inning and Jackson Dixon had a sac fly in the third for Park Hill South. After the Wildcats scored all three of their runs in the fourth inning, the Panthers answered with a five-run fifth.
Billy Eggers and Stephen Personelli had RBI doubles in the frame, while Jack Beurlein and Kriss Davis also drove in runs.
Park Hill South had eight hits, two each from Eggers and Personelli, the team’s Nos. 3 and 4 hitters. Alex Rodriguez tossed 5 2/3 innings to earn the win on the mound.
Facing the host Bruins, the Panthers scored first but lost on a walk-off loss.
Park Hill South went up 2-0 in the first inning on an RBI double by Billy Eggers and an RBI single by Stephen Personelli. That was it as far as the scoring goes, though the Panthers had runners in scoring position in three times over the final six innings.
Bartlesville tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the sixth on Tommy Lindsly’s single. Bartlesville loaded the bases on an error, walk and a single in the bottom of the seventh and won on another error.
Three pitchers for Park Hill South limited Bartlesville to three hits. Will Fricker started and went five innings, giving up one hit and no runs but got the no decision.
Park Hill 6, Oak Park 5, Game 1
Park Hill 5, Oak Park 0, Game 2
The Trojans swept the Northmen in a doubleheader on Saturday, March 31, in Kansas City, Mo.
Ryan Kiser went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate for the Trojans in the opening game and his lone RBI was the difference. Kiser hit a single to right field in the bottom of the seventh to bring home Chandler Ashby for the game-winning run.
Oak Park scored three runs in the top of the seventh, as the Trojans were one out away from escaping with a 5-4 win.
Park Hill went up 5-0 after three innings, before Oak Park got on the board in the fourth inning. Liam Henry had a three-run double in the second inning, while Zayne Morrow and Corey Bradford also had RBI hits.
Ashby and Brent Balusek combined for a two-hitter in the second game for the Trojans. Ashby went six innings, giving up two hits, and fanning seven. Balusek fanned the side in the seventh to secure the shutout.
BRYCE MERENESS/Citizen photo
Trojans first baseman Grant Mertz connects on an RBI single in the first inning of the Trojans 6-5 loss to Liberty Nborth on Thursday, March 29 at The Yard at Liberty North in Liberty, Mo.
The offense accounted for all five runs over the first four innings.
Henry led off with a triple in the first and scored on Morrow’s sac fly. Bradford doubled in a run and Ben Zahnd added a sac fly in the second for the Trojans.
Henry had an RBI double in the fourth, while Ayden Mertz scored home for another run for Park Hill. Henry and Riley Putnam had two hits each for the Trojans.
Park Hill South 9, Raytown 4
The Panthers scored four late runs to hold off the Bluejays on Thursday, March 29, in Riverside, Mo.
Park Hill South went up 5-0 after the first three innings, but Raytown pulled within 5-4 after the top of the fifth. A four-run bottom of the sixth iced the win for Park Hill South, winners of three straight.
Billy Eggers and Xavier Hammonds had two hits each, while Alex Rodriguez had a team-high three RBI for the Panthers. Hammonds added two RBI.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Panthers batted around thanks to some wildness from Raytown. With two outs on the board, Raytown walked six straight batters to account for all of the runs.
Dominic Scudiero earned the win, tossing 3 1/3 innings, giving up two hits and one run.
Liberty North 6, Park Hill 5
Playing for the second time in 12 days, the result stayed the same but the gap between the two teams narrowed. The Eagles scored all six runs in the first three innings to build a lead and held off a late charge by the Trojans on Thursday, March 29, in Liberty, Mo.
The two met in the Liberty North Tournament on March 17, with North winning 14-1.
The Trojans grabbed an initial 1-0 lead in the first inning on Grant Mertz’s RBI single, a second runner was thrown out trying to stretch the lead to 2-0. The Eagles responded to tie the game at 1 in the bottom of the first and then went up 4-1 after Nathan Chester’s three-run double in the second inning. Two more runs in the third pushed the advantage to 6-1.
Zayne Morrow had a two-run double and scored on Ryan Lack’s single in the fifth to pull Park Hill within 6-4. Liam Henry reached on a two-base error after a dropped fly ball. After another dropped fly ball which the Trojans thought would give them runners on second and third with no outs, but was later changed after a successful Liberty North argument to a foul ball. On the next pitch Henry stole third and scored when the throw down caromed off of Henry and to the left field fence. With no one on Liberty North retired the last three batters to secure the win.
Liam Henry and Ayden Mertz both pitched three innings for the Trojans.
Platte County 4, Winnetonka 0
The Pirates scored single runs in four of the first five innings to pick up a win against the Griffins on the road Wednesday, March 28, in Kansas City.
Ethan Esdohr tossed five innings of hitless work, while fanning seven, to pick up the win for the Pirates. Hunter Cox tossed the final two innings and gave up a hit for Platte County, which snapped a two-game losing streak.
Platte County went up 1-0 in the first inning, starting with Kobe Cummings leading off with a single and scoring on a two-out bases loaded walk to Christian Grissell. Colby Sneed had an RBI single in the second inning for the Pirates and an error in the third inning pushed the lead to 3-0.
The final run for the Pirates came in the top of the fifth inning when Blake Minyard singled.
The lone hit for Winnetonka came in the seventh inning by Daniel Newbury.