Morning Star Staff
The Cloverdale Paint Black Panthers brushed off the Rotary Blue Jays 9-8 in Mosquito baseball play at Lakeview Park.
The Black Panthers scored all nine runs in the first four innings and held off the Blue Jays who scored four times in the sixth inning and had the bases loaded before Oakley Kemper got Adam Hansen to fly out to Drayden Routley for the final out.
Ben Thompson of the Panthers cranked two singles in the first two innings and drove in two runs, while Evan Kashuba and Lucas McCool both went 3-for-3 with a walk and one run.
Reece Holmes went 3-for-3 with a walk, two RBI and two two runs for the Panthers. For the Blue Jays, Riley Cormier went 1-for-2 with a walk, one ribbie and one run. Jaden Anderson had three walks and scored twice while Maddex MacAuly also had three walks.
The Black Panthers relied on strong pitching from Routley, who allowed no runs in one inning. Holmes and Chayse Brumpton both pitched two strong innings for the Cats, allowing a combined four runs with nine Ks.
Dillon Carter struck out one and Adam Hansen struck out two for the Rotary crew. Riley Cormier came in and struck out two keeping the Cloverdale gang off the board in their final at bat to give the Blue Jays a chance to come back in the sixth.