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Teresa Beasley

Austin Vaughan lays down a drag bunt.

The Panola Ponies pounded Galveston College in a double-header Wednesday at Jim Reeves Memorial Field in Carthage.

The Ponies won the first game 9-5 and the second 7-5. Jason Barton of Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, Canada, and Evan Mistich of Houma, La., blasted two homeruns in the games, ensuring victory for the Ponies.

 The Ponies are 9-1 this season, leading the Region XIV Athletic Conference. The team’s only loss was a 6-5 game against Alvin Community College that was called due to darkness with the bases loaded for the Ponies.

 After a leadoff double in the first inning put Galveston on the scoreboard, the Ponies’ answered in the bottom half with three straight hits from Ryan Westbrook of Lufkin, Kameron Walker of Jonesboro, Ark. and Mistich. Westbrook, who led off the inning with a double, scored on Walker's single. Walker then scored on Mistich's RBI single. Mistich scored the third run of the inning after a base hit by John Alexander of The Woodlands.

 Galveston tied it up 3-3 in the top of the second but Panola came back and scored two more runs, taking a 5-3 lead. Barton’s solo homerun in the fifth was followed by Mistich’s three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth.

 Galveston was held scoreless until the top of the seventh when they scored two runs, but it wasn’t enough and the Ponies took the game 9-5.

Pitching for the Ponies were Jeff Stringer of Orange, Jason Gibson of Victoria, British Columbia, and Daniel Cloteaux of LaFayette, La.

See more game photos by going to the Media link on the home page, or click Ponies beat Galveston.