Panthers pound Charger pitching to advance in 2A
ACKERMAN – After losing game two of the series to Pine Grove last Saturday thanks in large part to not throwing strikes, Choctaw County Chargers baseball coach Ben Tillman's message to freshman pitcher Peyton Thomas was to pound the strike zone.
He gave his coach just that, but the Chargers just had to tip their caps because the Panthers just kept hitting the baseball.
A nine-hit, 11-run third inning doomed Choctaw County as it couldn't get back in the game offensively and it ended the season for the home team. It was a 17-6 final for the Panthers to advance to the North State championship series in Class 2A.
“(Thomas) filled up the zone and there's nothing else you can ask but your guy to go fill up the zone,” Tillman said. “That's a good hitting ball club and a good ball club. They deserve to win (Monday).”
After putting up two zeros in the first couple of innings and getting an early lead on Pine Grove, the Chargers couldn't sustain it. The Panthers swung the bats for 16 hits, while walking seven times. It made for a tough night for Choctaw County.
Hayden Tuck kept the game where it was for a couple of innings after coming to the mound for the Chargers with just one out in the third and the wheels starting to fall off. He didn't give up an earned run for the next couple of innings before Pine Grove got going again.
The visitors got two runs in the sixth and scored four more in the seventh to run away with it.
Choctaw County tried to climb back in it thanks to the bat of CJ Clark as he hit two home runs in a row in the third and fourth innings, but that was all the offense could muster after falling behind. Clark led the team with his 2-for-4 night with three RBI and two homers. Tuck went 2-for-3 with an RBI on a bases-loaded walk in the first inning.
It ended the season for several standout senior Chargers that bought in to Tillman's vision this year. The seniors have been coached by three different head men the last three seasons and won back-to-back district championships both in Class 3A and 2A and the third round advancement was the furthest the program has moved through the playoffs since consolidation.
Tyson Coleman, Clark, Micah Gammill, Clark Crowley, Logan Perkins and Trace Beard were a huge part of things the last few years at Choctaw County as was Connor Jewell who missed the entire season after a torn ACL in football.
“They're the foundation,” Tillman said. “Those kids came in here and had three years in a row with a different coach. They could have shrugged their shoulders and played their senior season and gotten out of here. They didn't. They bought in. Our M.O. has been to compete and those guys competed. I hope that mentality continues through the young guys.”
Tillman likes the nucleus returning but understands that it's going to be tough replacing the seniors.
This year proved, however, not to count out this bunch. No one gave the Chargers a chance to win a district championship and be within a game of the North State title.
“At the beginning of the year we set a goal of getting to round three and we got here,” Tillman said. “It's one of those things where you want to get as far as you can. I thought this team had some ability to make a run. I wasn't sure how good that run would be because we lost some guys along the way, but we just kept battling.”