LaGrange celebrated Senior Day on Sunday with a doubleheader sweep of USA South rival Huntingdon at Cleaveland Field in Williamson Stadium. The Panthers won 6-2 and 10-4 to up their record to 12-7 overall and 4-1 in conference play.
Seniors E.J. Churchich, Spencer Douches, Jack Layrisson, Judd Moore, Trey Pearce, and J.R. Robinson were honored before the game. The seniors have been a part of 86 wins, two USA South Tournament championships, and two appearances in the NCAA Division III national tournament. Pearce went 4-for-6 on the day; with a double, a sacrifice fly, and two RBIs.
The Panthers spotted Huntingdon (9-13, 1-4 USA South) early leads in both games. The Hawks had leads of 2-0 in the first game and 4-0 in the second game.
Baley Coleman (3-3) pitched a complete game in Game 1, the first by a Panther pitcher since J.R. Robinson went the distance in a losing effort at Huntingdon on March 8, 2019. Coleman scattered nine hits, allowed the two runs, walked two, and struck out two.
The Hawks got the game's first run in the second inning. In the fifth, they added another run to take a 2-0 lead. Coleman pitched out of the jam, getting Cullen Stanford to fly out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Carden Mellown started on the mound for Huntingdon in Game 1. Mellown had thrown a two-hit shutout against the Panthers during the 2020 season and on Sunday held the Panthers scoreless through four innings on three hits.
In the bottom of the fifth, Rhett Mixon walked and went over to third on Rhett Hebert's double to left center. Joe Ruth walked to load the bases. McKinley Erves singled through the left side, driving in Mixon and Hebert to tie the game. Churchich followed with a two-run double to right center for a 4-2 lead.
After the fifth inning, Coleman slammed the door on the Hawks. Over the last four innings, he allowed only one hit, retiring 11 of the last 12 hitters he faced. Coleman needed only 39 pitches after the fifth inning to finish the game.
The Panthers added two insurance runs in the sixth. Pearce walked with one out and Mixon doubled to right to put runners at second and third. Hebert knocked Mellown from the game with a two-run single up the middle for a 6-2 lead.
LC finished with nine hits, Hebert had two of them, including the double.
Dalton Brooks started and was the first of five pitchers for LC in the second game. Brooks was relieved in the second inning with no outs after a bases-loaded walk brought in a run. Jack Richards (1-0) got the first two batters he faced, but the Hawks got back-to-back singles from Colin Whibbs and Wes Powell to take a 4-0 lead.
The Panthers got a run back in their half of the second off reliever John Crawford (1-2). Cael Chatham reached on a one-out error and eventually came around to score on Pearce's base hit to make it 4-1.
LC took the lead for good with a four-run third inning. With two runners on, Erves doubled to deep center to clear the bases and get the Panthers within a run, 4-3.
One out later, Cael Chatham homered to right field for a 5-4 lead. It was Chatham's third home run of the season and first since March 4. It was the team's first home run since March 20, a span of 10 games.
The Panthers added a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Ruth. They put it away with a three-run seventh. Layrisson had the big hit in the inning, a two-run triple into the right field corner. Pearce's sacrifice fly brought home Layrisson to up LC's lead to 9-4. LC closed out the scoring in the eighth. Erves' RBI single drove in Hebert, who had led off the inning with a double, for the 10-4 final margin.
Ethan Fry, Brett Caneega, and Douches followed Richards, with all three throwing two scoreless innings. Douches struck out four of the seven batters he faced.
Pearce went 3-for-3 to lead the Panthers' 14-hit attack. Erves finished with two hits, including the double, and three RBIs. Chatham increased his hitting streak to 11 games with the home run and a single.
The Panthers play a three-game USA South series at Maryville next weekend.
