Panola drops two games to Angelina
Longview News Journal
Sunday, March 25, 2007
CARTHAGE — Angelina entered Saturday's Region XIV baseball doubleheader against Panola on a three-game win streak, and the Ponies couldn't find a way to curb the Roadrunners' momentum.
Behind a strong pitching performance by Kevin Cooper, Angelina capped off a sweep with a 10-2 win over Panola in the second game of the afternoon doubleheader. Cooper scattered six hits over eight innings, yielding only two runs, neither of which came after the third inning.
More of a finesse pitcher than power, Cooper tallied six strikeouts and only one walk, and Frank Corolla came on to pitch the ninth, striking out two Ponies for the save.
White Oak's Scott Copeland started on the mound for Panola, but Angelina forced the freshman out of the game after two-thirds of an inning. The Roadrunners scored six runs in the top of the first, thanks in part to RBI doubles from Zane Williams and Keith Prestridge and a two-run single by Anthony Spagnola.
Panola responded with a Taylor Davis RBI (41st of the season) single in the bottom half of the inning.
Angelina added a run in the second on a Kody Hinze RBI single, and Panola's Jared Wondra scored his second run of the game on a Ricky Gardner single in the third, but that would be it for the Ponies.
Cooper cruised through the fourth through eighth innings.
Panola, which used Copeland, Brandon Powell, Daniel Martin and Cory Williams on the hill, got the most out of Williams, who pitched the final 2 2/3 innings, retiring all eight batters he faced.
Angelina leadoff hitter Jason Gurka went 2-for-4 with two runs, while Zane Williams was 3-for-6 with three runs. Hinze drove in three runs, and Josh Fountain and Spagnola each had two RBIs.
Carthage's Kory Cleveland and Gardner each recorded two hits for Panola.
Game 1
Angelina 6, Panola 2
The first game of the doubleheader was similar to the second — Panola struggled from the plate, and early Angelina runs boosted the Roadrunners to the lead.
Panola's Kofi Osei-Aning's two-run single to center in the third tied the game 2-2, but Angelina crossed the plate three times in the fourth to take command as the Roadrunners grabbed a 6-2 win.
Grant Campbell, whose style was similar to his teammate Cooper, held Panola to four hits in a complete game effort. Campbell only struck out one Pony, but did not issue a single walk.
Carthage's Clayton McMillan started for the Ponies and went the distance in the seven-inning contest, giving up six runs on five hits. Only four of the six runs were earned as Panola committed three errors. McMillan struck out six and walked five, including one intentional walk.
Andrew Kainer delivered a two-run single to left in the fourth after Josh Fountain scored on a McMillan throwing error to give the Roadrunners a 5-2 lead.
After the fourth, only one half of an inning saw more than the three-batter minimum step to the plate. Mark Wyatt hit a solo home run to left to increase Angelina's lead to 6-2 in the fifth, and the final 16 outs of the game were rather uneventful.
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