DEARBORN – Coming off a one-run, 11-inning heartbreaking loss against Lawson (9-1), North Platte played stellar baseball through two innings against St. Joseph Christian (3-1) before a thunderstorm caused a postponement on April 1.
North Platte sophomore Hunter Palmer slides into third base against St. Joseph Christian on April 1.
North Platte led 7-0 by the time a temporary 30-minute rain delay, and eventual postponement, occurred in right under an hour of play. Despite there only being two innings, quite some time passed – which included a half hour first inning.
After St. Joseph Christian left two runners on in the top of the first inning, North Platte went through its entire lineup and scored five runs. Leadoff batter Dylan Armstrong stepped up to the plate twice and scored the first run of the night on an error.
The Lions had five errors in two innings and the Panthers took advantage of the four that occurred in the first inning. Colton Kirkham had an RBI single and reached second base on an error to ignite a hitting streak of five in a row.
Chance Garber doubled, followed with a slew of RBI singles by Ryan York, Ben Jaycox and John Winkler. Hunter Palmer hit a ground ball to third base and reached first on another error, resulting in St. Joseph Christian making a pitching change to close out the inning with two outs in the ensuing two batters.
The Panthers had two errors in the top of the second inning but once again the Lions left two runners on. Jaxson Carpenter walked in the first at-bat of the bottom of the second inning and eventually scored after stealing a base.
For the second time in just as many trips to the batter’s box, Kirkham reached second base on what should’ve been a single due to an error. Carpenter crossed home plate on the play.
York had his second RBI single of the day with a line drive hit to center field. St. Joseph Christian closed out the inning before the weather escalated.
Creek Johnson only allowed one hit and struck out one batter through two innings on the mound. Play will start back up where it ended on April 4.
North Platte had won four in a row before heading to Lawson with a chance to move to 2-0 in conference play on March 28. Trailing 3-1 after two innings and 4-3 through six innings, Garber extended the game with a sacrifice fly to send Armstrong home to tie the game.
Three extra innings went scoreless, and the Cardinals intentionally walked Armstrong and Kirkham in the 11th inning. Palmer had walked before those two and with a pair of outs, he was picked off at third base.
Kirkham was on the mound in the bottom of the inning, striking out two and walking one through three batters. Lawson junior Chase Jones hit a groundball to Palmer who bobbled the ball and Ryder Coffman scored the game-winning run on the error.
Garber went 2-of-3 with two RBIs and Jaycox had two hits as well. Kirkham had 11 strikeouts as the reliever for Carpenter, who struck out three batters in right over four innings.