Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
WILLIAMSPORT — Carson McWhorter has built his reputation on his dominance as a pitcher. But on Monday, his bat was what downed Westfall.
With one out to spare and trailing by a run in the top of the seventh inning, the senior took a 1-1 offering into left field, delivering an RBI double to tie the game.
C.J. Huff stepped up in the next at-bat and lined the first pitch he saw into the outfield green for an RBI single to put the Panthers (4-2, 3-2 SVC) ahead — for good.
“Our mentality from last year has really carried over to this year, and we know our lineup can hit the ball from top to bottom,” Southeastern’s Gage Cheadle said. “Even in a last-out type of situation, we all have full confidence in whoever is at bat to get the job done. Tonight was Carson’s turn and he came up with a huge hit, as did CJ.”
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
After McWhorter and Huff delivered during clutch time, all eyes shifted to Brycen Kessler on the bump. The freshman came through, with a solid defense behind him, to nail down a 6-5 victory over Westfall.
“Honestly, we made a lot of costly errors that shouldn’t have happened all over the field. But I’m also happy that these guys just found a way to win,” Southeastern coach Brad Valentine said. “We’re finding an identity and a heart to continue fighting, I think that’s something that was missing from this team for the last couple of years. Yeah, we had our run last year, but that came with a lot of bumps. This year, we’ve worked hard to start strong and this is such a huge win for our guys.”
Kessler’s performance in the final three innings was a major catalyst behind the Panthers’ comeback victory.
He entered the game with his team trailing 5-3 in the fifth. He’d proceed to toss three perfect innings, striking out a pair to earn his first career varsity win.
“Having confidence in myself was the main thing and just know that the guys behind me were going to make plays,” Kessler said. “Those guys were amazing. Landon Welch recording that last out was incredible, Gage had a great sliding catch as well. I trust my guys and that lets me just play my game.”
After a scoreless first inning, Westfall (5-3, 3-2 SVC) struck the scoreboard first when Southeastern committed a throwing error. Cash Conrad followed with an RBI double for a 2-0 lead.
However, Southeastern immediately provided an answer.
With two runners on and one out, Coleton Baxter drilled a pitch into left field for a two-run single, tying the game at 2-2.
The Panthers escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third, and proceeded to take the lead in the top of the fourth with a sacrifice bunt from Landon Brown for a 3-2 advantage.
That lead didn’t last long, though.
With two runners on and two outs in the bottom half, Rick Hanley drilled a two-run double into deep center field to retake the lead. Following a walk and a hit batter to load the bases, the Panthers committed a fielding error to plate another run, making it a 5-3 game.
But despite the miscues in the field, the bats were still alive and well. Gage Cheadle sent a ball screaming over the fence for the solo home run, cutting the deficit to 5-4.
“He threw me a curveball in my second at-bat and I took it, which was an instant regret,” Cheadle said of the at-bat. “He threw me the same pitch my next time up and it was right down the middle. I told myself to sit back and just let it fly.”
A scoreless sixth led to the drama of the seventh.
A fielding error and a walk quickly put two runners on. The next two batters struck out and flew out to center. But that’s when McWhorter came through in the clutch, followed by Huff’s go-ahead single to close out the victory.
“The middle of the lineup has been locked in since the very first day we could start baseball, and they play with a refuse to lose type of mentality,” Valentine said. “They’re learning how to have short-term memories, which leads to winning games. We had a bad error with two outs in the seventh, but Kessler and the guys got the job done in the end.”
Cheadle finished 3-for-4 with a home run and an RBI, Huff was also 3-for-4 with an RBI, and McWhorter was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Baxter also chipped in, going 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
For Westfall, Hanley finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while Conrad was 1-for-2 with an RBI.
Both teams suffered a loss on Wednesday in league action. The Mustangs fell to Unioto while the Panthers dropped the ball at Adena.
Southeastern is back in action on Thursday evening, hosting Logan Elm, while Westfall welcomes Unioto to Williamsport on Friday.
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