April 19, 2024

Clean sweep: Panthers take two from Falcons

By BY RYAN
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Creston eighth-grader Luke Latham rounds third base as teammate Chase Shiltz follows close behind during the fifth inning of game one of Thursday's Hawkeye 10 Conference baseball game with Council Bluffs St. Albert at Panther Field. Latham scored on the play while Shiltz scored on the next play, a sacrifice fly by Kadon Hultt, as the Panthers won game one 6-4. (CNA photo)

Creston’s baseball team has been putting in its share of extra work in the batting cage and out on the field as of late.

The extra efforts showed up big time during Thursday’s Hawkeye 10 Conference doubleheader with Council Bluffs St. Albert.

Creston played its best defensive doubleheader of the season, then combined it with timely hitting in both games to sweep the doubleheader.

Creston took game one 6-4 then had to hang on for a 6-5 win in the nightcap.

“We’ve been putting a lot of extra work hitting, taking fungoes, instead of just showing up and hitting,” said junior Chase Shiltz. “We’re actually working in the morning and I think that’s starting to pay off.”

The Panthers won their third in a row to move to 10-9 overall and 9-7 in the Hawkeye 10.

“It gives us confidence that we can play with anyone,” said junior Gavin Woods. “They’re not a bad ballclub.”

Creston’s defense has been an Achilles heel at times, but it certainly wasn’t Thursday. The Panthers had only two errors — a fielding error in the first inning of game two and a throwing error in the seventh inning of the second game.

“It was a really good night, getting two from a team that’s above .500 in the conference,” said Creston coach Steve Birchard. “It was two good games. There wasn’t a whole lot of kicking the ball around. It was nice to see some good baseball.”

Shiltz enjoyed one of his best outings of the season. He scattered seven hits, walked one and struck out nine while throwing a near-season-low 100 pitches om a start.

“I had a good bullpen and started throwing strikes,” he said. “I got ahead of the batters and the defense played well. Every game this year, I’ve thrown 120-some pitches, 130, so that was good.”

Shiltz shut down St. Albert in order in the second, fourth and fifth. He faced only four batters in the first.

“That was his best outing of the year,” Birchard said. “He’s pretty sturdy, durable.”

The Panthers didn’t have an error in game one, one of the better games they’ve had this season in the field.

“We minimized the errors, that’s for sure,” Shiltz said.

Creston’s offense backed its pitcher up with three solid innings at the plate.

The Panthers tallied two in the second. Beau Barncastle singled and scored on a two-out triple by Kendall Crawford. Crawford came around on a two-out single by Jadon Driskell.

In the fourth, Gavin Woods had a one-out run-scoring single as the Panthers took advantage of four errors in the inning.

Creston tacked on two more in the fifth. Driskell walked with one out and Shiltz singled. An error allowed Luke Latham, courtesy running for Driskell, to score all the way from first. A Kadon Hulett sacrifice fly plated Shiltz.

St. Albert scored a run in the third and three in the fourth. The Falcons had the tying run at the second in the seventh, but Schiltz picked up a strikeout to end the game.

In game two, it appeared it was going to be all St. Albert. The Falcons rocked Panthers starter Crawford for three runs on three hits, and took advantage of an error.

But Crawford settled in nicely after the sluggish start. St. Albert went down in order in each of the next three innings.

“He hung in there,” Birchard said. “I was thinking, ‘Oh boy, they’re going to hit the ball all over.’ I don’t know if he got heated up. Kids sometimes think I’m going to go seven innings. I have to save it. Once he got going, he threw strikes.”

Creston’s offense came alive in the second. Woods tripled and scored on a Michael Scherer single.

The Panther offense really roared in a three-run fourth. Dustin Merritt and Brenden McDowell reached on consecutive walks. Both took a base on a wild pitch. A Woods single plated two.

“I’ve been working on my timing,” Woods said. “It paid off.”

Woods came around to score on a single by Scherer.

Creston added two more in the fifth. Shiltz singled, then took third on a wild pitch. Hulett’s base hit scored the first run of the inning.

Merritt reached on a fielder’s choice, moved up on a groundout, then scored on Woods’ base hit.

“We’re finally getting the sticks to get going,” Woods said. “That’s what we’ve bene missing.”

Crawford and company had to work out of trouble in the seventh. St. Albert scored one run on a throwing error, then added a run-scoring single. A stolen base allowed the Falcons to put the go-ahead run at second base, leading Birchard to call Driskell in to pitch.

Driskell walked the first batter he faced, but induced a routine ground ball to McDowell at shortstop. McDowell made the throw in time to end the contest.

“Jaden got in there, got a confidence boost,” Birchard said.

Creston is back on the diamond Saturday facing Bondurant-Farrar at Woodward-Granger. Game time is set for 10:30 a.m. in Granger.

Game 1

Creston 6, St. Albert 4  R  H  E

St.A  001  003 0  —  4  7  5

Crest  002  220 x  —  6  10  0

St.A: Milller 5K 1 BB and Powers; Bernard (6) 0K, 1 BB. Snyder (6) 1 K, 0 BB. Cr: Chase Shiltz 9K 1BB and Jadon Driskell. W — Hulett . L—Miller. HR — None 3B —Cr: Crawford. 2B — St.A:Miller, RBI — St.A: Rieck, Finn, Williams, Miller. Cr: Driskell, Woods, Crawford, Hulett .Multiple hitters — St.A: Rieck (2). Cr: Driskell (2), McDowell (2), Woods (2).

Game 2

Creston 6, St. Albert 5  R  H  E

St.A  300  000 2  —  5  5  3

Crest  010  320 x  —  6  8  1

St.A: Behrens 1K 4 BB and Powers; Snyder (4) 1K, 1 BB. Cr: Kendall Crawford 1K 4BB and Kadon Hulett. Jaden Driskell (7) 1BB 0 K. W — Crawford . L—Behrens. SV; Driskell. HR — None. 3B —Cr: Woods. 2B — None. RBI — St.A: Williams, Miller, Finn. Cr: Scherer (2), Woods (3), Hulett. Multiple hitters — St.A: Koch (2). Cr: Scherer (2), Woods (2)