Free bases doom Panthers once more

The walk bug bit the Creston baseball team again Tuesday.

Shenandoah jumped on top and held its foot down on Creston throughout its 11-4 win at Panther Field.

The Mustangs worked for two walks and a single among the first three batters against Panther starting pitcher Kolby Hulett, who made his first varsity start.

Hulett then walked in a run and worked for consecutive groundouts that plated runs for the Mustangs.

Shenandoah played add-on to the 3-0 lead with five more in the second inning, as Hulett was pulled after walking three Mustang hitters.

In part because of necessity, in part because of positive glimpses shown on the mound Saturday, Creston coach Steve Birchard gave Hulett his chance for his first varsity start.

Hulett issued six walks and the Panthers gave away 11 free bases on balls.

“Kolby threw a lot better Saturday than he did tonight,” Birchard said. “He said he was nervous and it comes with starting.”

After Michael Scherer came to the hill with an out in the second, two runs raced home on an Austin Herold double and another scored on an error via a Gavin Gillam throw home from first.

Herold went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two runs scored. He also picked up the win for Shenandoah, marking the second time the Mustangs have ridden his pitching arm to victory over the Panthers.

Scherer works

Scherer worked the final 5 and 2/3 innings after not expecting to pitch.

“Mike gets a little confidence and he can throw his curveball and Beau (Barncastle) does a nice job back there battling to block stuff and you’ve got to have a lot of confidence in your catcher to block stuff,” Birchard said.

Creston had a chance to limit the damage, but a foul popup fell between third baseman Dustin Merritt and Barncastle and in the same at-bat Braden Knight singled to add to what became an 8-1 lead.

Herold, a sophomore pitcher, struck out seven Panther batters, which Birchard noted he felt better about than the 14 times the Panthers struck out against him in a June 4 loss.

Creston did still strike out looking three times, a continued point of emphasis for Birchard.

“That’s one thing we’ve got to solve. That’s one thing you can change,” Birchard said. “It doesn’t mean you get a hit, it doesn’t mean you get the ball in play, but I always say you have a chance.”

Creston does

damage

The Panthers put one run on the board with a James McDonald sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first and another on a ground ball error off the bat of Luke Latham that scored a run when Shenandoah shortstop Braden Knight threw the ball past first and into the dugout.

Latham pushed home two more runs with a sharp single to right field in the fifth, but that was it for Creston’s scoring.

Dustin Merritt was the lone Panther with multiple hits, as he had a 2-for-3 day at the plate with a walk.

Panther senior Jaden Driskell, who leads Creston with a .439 batting average and 18 RBIs, sat out of action and will be day-to-day as he manages an issue similar to a sprain in his hamstring.

“He’s probably a few days off yet. I probably don’t see him contributing this week,” Birchard said.

UP NEXT — Creston (4-15 overall, 3-10 in the Hawkeye 10) fell to its sixth straight defeat and will look to change that in a doubleheader at home against St. Albert (17-5, 9-1) Thursday.

The Panther JV team defeated Shenadoah 4-3 on a Hunter Fry single that scored Evan Bruce in the bottom of the fifth.

Cole Strider earned the pitching win with three relief innings and three strikeouts.

Brayton Chesnut plated two runs in the first inning with a triple.

Shenandoah 11, Creston 4

R H E

Sh 350 002 1 — 11 7 3

Cr 101 020 0 — 4 5 1

Sh: Austin Herold 7K 5BB and Kyle Owens, Kyle Owens (6) 1K 1BB and Cole Nebel. Cr: Kolby Hulett 0K 6 BB 1HBP, Michael Scherer (2) 2K 3BB 1HBP and Beau Barncastle. W — Herold. L—Hulett (0-1). HR — none. 3B —Josh Lehman 1. 2B — Sh: Herold 2, Kyle Cerven 1. RBI — Shen: Nebel 3, Lehman 2, Herold 2, Braden Knight 2, Anthony Stogdill 1. Cr: Luke Latham 2, James McDonald 1. Multiple hitters — Shen: Herold 3. Cr: Dustin Merritt 2.