A five-run seventh inning rally came up two runs short for the Pioneers, but it helped push them to a 19-9 win in the second game of a doubleheader against Presbyterian Christian on Friday night.
Chance Schmidt hit a three-run homer in the seventh of the opener to make it an 11-9 game, but the next two batters weren’t able to keep the inning alive as the Pioneers lost.
“In the bottom of the seventh coming in, I told them we can make a run and win it or make a run and get momentum,” Parklane head coach Ken Jackson said.
Parklane gave up eight runs in the fourth inning but returned the favor in the nightcap, when the Pioneers scored 11 runs in the fifth inning to end the game early.
Every batter scored in the inning, while Kyle Adams and Josh Armstreet scored twice.
Catcher Justin Leggett was the key cog in the fifth. He was the seventh hitter to step to the plate and hit a grand slam to left field, which put the Pioneers up 17-9.
The slam was his first hit of the night.
Adams and Russ Brown each had three hits on the night. Adams scored four runs, while Brown drove in two and scored twice.
Armstreet scored four times and drove in two runs on a triple and double.
Shelby Johnson picked up the win, pitching all five innings and striking out three batters.
In the opener, Blake Brown pitched three near-perfect innings before the fourth did him in. Two walks and a hit batter put runners on base, and the Wildcats came up with the hits they needed to score eight runs.
They added two more in the fifth and another in the seventh to stay ahead of the Pioneers.
Coming close to a win in the opener was evened out by winning the series.
“In the division you’ve got to hope for two wins, and we’re happy with two wins,” Jackson said. “We need to do that consistently.”
Parklane is 5-1 in the division and has a winning percentage of .800 over its last 15 games.
