Panthers take win in home opener

May 17—Though the Panthers' home debut was delayed by a day, they put on a show for the crowd with a 6-3 victory over the Winterset Huskies.

"I just respect Winterset as a program," Coach Brandon Phipps said. "They were a state tournament team last year. Granted, I knew they graduated a lot of seniors, but we're confident."

The Huskies took the lead in the first inning, Tate Thompson walking to first, stealing second and scoring on a double by Reed Smith after the Panthers had a bad throw.

Though it took time for their response, the Panthers found their stride in the third inning.

It was the eighth grader, Tom Mikkelson, who got on base for the Panthers. While senior catcher Kyle Strider was up to bat, Mikkelson stole second and third. Strider was walked, putting him on first and Mikkelson on third as shortstop Cael Turner stepped up to bat.

Strider stole second before Turner hit a single, sending Mikkelson home for the Panthers' first run.

"Tom Mikkelson, he's our young buck," Phipps said. "He's an eighth grader, but man he can play some baseball."

Turner stole third as centerfielder Gannon Greenwalt batted. Greenwalt's hit took him out at first, but sent Strider home for their second run.

In the top of the fourth, the Panthers' infielders showed resiliency as they fought through defensive mistakes.

A hit from Michael Sents went straight for third baseman McCoy Haines, but it bounced out of his glove. Haines adapted, throwing the ball to second baseman Sam Henry to get the out at second.

With two outs, first baseman Quinten Fuller missed a throw to first and Winterset's Bryce Buckalew took advantage, rounding for second. Fuller recovered, throwing to Henry who made the tag at second to get the third out.

"They're just staying with the play, that's the biggest thing," Phipps said. "We just get back on it. I thought we did a nice job defensively just to stay in, play by play and sometimes second by second. The outfielders did a nice job recovering from any mistake."

In the fourth, the Panthers matched their two runs from the third.

On first base, Fuller stole second. A single turned into a double for Haines as the Huskies' second baseman overthrew the first baseman, sending Fuller home. Milo Staver stepped up to bat, hitting the ball deep into the outfield where the fielder dropped the ball, sending Staver to second and Haines home.

The Huskies found two runs in the fifth inning from a drop in the outfield and an RBI to give Thompson his second run of the night and Cage Alcorn his first.

Creston pitcher Dylan Hoepker was consistent on the mound with 61 strikes on 112 pitches, giving up only three runs.

"Dylan Hoepker on the mound was outstanding," Phipps said. "He really got after it — big night for him on the mound."

The Panthers didn't let the Huskies' runs slow them down, scoring another two runs in the fifth.

Turner bunted and took advantage of a missed catch at first to land a single. Greenwalt followed with a single of his own. Both boys stole a base before Hoepker came in with a single to send Turner home.

Jack Walters came in to run for Hoepker. The Winterset pitcher tried to catch Walters off guard as he led off at first, but the first baseman missed the catch and Walters was able to make it to third.

Haines hit a single to send Walters home, but a failed attempt to steal second ended the inning.

In the sixth, the Panthers put in Mikkelson at pitcher to close out the game. Mikkelson threw 14 strikes on 29 pitches, not allowing any runs.

Cheers for the young player were loud from the dugout as he cemented their second victory.

"He's going to make a name for himself, and I think he did that tonight on the close," Phipps said. "It's not easy for some of these guys seeing an eighth grader out there playing while they might be a ninth, 10th, 11th or even 12th grader, but that's our team. We know our roles, we accept our roles. There's going to be a night when one of those guys has to step up and make a play too. It just happened to be Tom tonight, but moving forward I could see it being anyone in the dugout."

The Panthers play Thursday at Nodaway Valley and host Martensdale St. Mary's Friday, both games start at 7:30.

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