Few baseball wins have meant as much to the Russellville Panthers as a 9-7 victory over Reynoldsberg, Ohio did last week in the Florida Beach Bash.
Reynoldsberg rarely loses. Panther parents said they heard the Ohio team had been undefeated this season and won a state championship last year.
The Ohioans had the bases loaded with two outs and a full count in the final inning when Barrett Croslin broke off a curve ball for a called strike three to end the threat and the game. Jacob Proctor pitched the first two and a third innings with Croslin working the final four and two-thirds.
Zach Denney laced 4 hits, half of them doubles. George Collins had 3 hits while Croslin added 2. He and Proctor each scored 2 runs. Eighth grader T.K. Hampton added a hit.
The Panthers also beat Whitesville Trinity 15-3 to go 2-2 in the Beach Bash. Croslin totaled 4 hits and 3 each of runs and RBIs. Denney tripled, doubled and scored 3 runs. Collins added a pair of doubles and a single while scoring twice. Colby Nichols doubled and scored 3 runs. Tyler Hall, Proctor, Wes Stratton, and Hampton each singled. Scorings runs were Proctor, Dalton Clark, Stratton, Hampton and Jason Mitchell each scored. Denney pitched the win.
Earlier in the tournament, the Panthers lost 11-1 to a strong Lexington Christian team. The run came in the fourth when Croslin singled, moved up on Denney’s walk and scored on Proctor’s single.
They fell 16-5 to Bellbrook, Ohio. The game was tied at 4-4 in the fifth before the Panthers’ ran out of pitching. Croslin, Hall, Collins and Ethan Houchens each scored a run. Hall had 2 hits, Proctor and Clark each got a hit. Collins, Nichols and Houchens all walked. Hall pitched.
Coach Greg Shelton’s team had beaten Portland, Tenn., 5-4 with Crewsden Kemp pitching a no-hitter into the sixth inning. They scored a run in the first with two outs. Proctor walked, Corey Wright singled, Denney reached on an error and Hall singled in courtesy runner Mitchell. The other four runs came home in the sixth when Hall and Collins singled around a Clark walk, Travis Kennedy and Croslin stroked back-to-back RBI singles, and Lee reached on an error. Denney pitched two-thirds of an inning. Croslin pitched a scoreless seventh.
In earlier wins, RHS started the season with a 2-0 win over West Creek, Tenn. In the fourth Denney singled, Cole Aguirre was hit by a pitch and Croslin singled in a pair of runs. Wright threw a 3-hit shutout with no walks while striking out 10.
In a 17-6 win over Caverna, Hall and Lee each had 3 hits. Hall and Denney scored 3 runs each while Croslin, Wright and Lee scored twice.
The Panthers piled up 14 hits in a 9-7 win over Muhlenberg County. Denney had 4 of them with Croslin, Proctor, Lee and Kennedy getting 2 each. Wright, Hall and Collins added 1 each. Clark scored 3 runs with Wright and Denney crossing the plate twice each. Denney drove in 3 runs. Lee and Kennedy each doubled twice.
Hall pitched a no-hitter and struck out 10 in a 12-0 win over Butler County. During a 6-run fourth inning, Proctor reached on an error, Wright doubled in courtesy runner Clark, Hall and Kennedy walked, Collins reached on an infield error, Kemp walked and Collins, Lee and Proctor singled. Clark, Wright, Hall, Kennedy, Collins and Kemp scored.