The Kingsley-Pierson baseball team had their season end in a heartbreaking 6-5 loss in eight innings to Gehlen Catholic in the district final played Saturday night in Le Mars.
The Panthers trailed the game 4-2 going into the seventh inning and were able to comeback with three runs to take the lead going into the bottom of the inning. It was the second time this year the Panthers had staged a multi-run comeback against the Jays, and head coach Taylor Doeschot says that provided him some confidence going into that inning.
The Panthers had struggled early to find some consistent pitching in the first four innings due to a lot of free passes allowed. They turned to John Leekley who pitched nearly four innings allowing just one run. Coach Doeschot says it was hard to pitch around Gehlen’s approach at the plate.
Kingsley-Pierson graduates three seniors that were a part of the last state tournament team K-P had in 2023. Coach Doeschot says he really wanted to get them back to Merchants Park this year because they bore a lot of responsibility on this team.
The Panthers end the year with a record of 16-6 and finish their season making to at least a district final for the 10th year in a row. Coach Doeschot says it is a hard standard to maintain, but he is looking forward to seeing if the guys who return can continue the trend of winning in a Panther uniform.
Gehlen Catholic advances to the district final on Tuesday night in Algona against Newman Catholic.
