Friday night featured the opening round of the 2022 Spalding Baseball Tournament, and it featured an entertaining ball game between Kingsley-Pierson and Gehlen Catholic. The Panthers needed to come behind following a four-run second inning from the Jays to win by a final of 7-4.
Evan Neumann got the start on the mound for the Panthers, and it looked like his start wasn’t going to last long. The second inning saw Neumann give up six hits and four runs and struggle on a number of occasions. After the second, Neumann allowed just two hits and a total of three base runners. Kingsley-Pierson head coach Taylor Doeschot says, even with that rough second inning, the outing was Neumann’s best of the season.
The job Neumann did on the mound allowed Kingsley-Pierson to start working the comeback. That comeback started thanks to a two-run homer off the Spalding Catholic scoreboard from Damon Schmid in the fifth inning. Coach Doeschot says that Schmid came through and once again provided the spark the rest of the bats needed to catch fire.
Coach Doeschot says his guys had some trouble consistently reaching base in the first few innings. Once they got that under control, the flood gates opened for the Panthers. They opened to the tune of five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Panthers now take on Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley in the semifinal round of the Spalding Tournament. Coach Doeschot says his team can always keep taking care of the little things to be successful against good opponents.
The Panthers now run their winning streak to eight games and their record sits at 15-3 overall. Gehlen Catholic falls to 11-8 overall with the loss.
