Titan sweep

With Lewis Central (7-2) projected to be one of the top teams in the Hawkeye 10, the Panthers (4-7) knew they had a challenge on their hands Monday when the Titans came to town for a doubleheader.

The Panthers hung on in game two, even having the lead at one point, but ended up falling 4-2. The second game quickly became a disaster for the Panthers, who ended up losing in a 17-0 mercy ruling. The game marks five straight losses for the Panthers who started the season 4-2.

“We are on a little bit of a skid right now,” Coach Brandon Phipps said. “We have dropped a few games against teams I think we have beaten. From the two one-run ball games last week to the mistakes in the [Lewis Central] game one game. We just need to clean some stuff up and get back on track.”

Creston’s bullpen went through six pitchers through the night to try and stop the influx of offense from the Titans.

Game one saw Tom Mikkelsen, Parker Varner and Tanner Ray on the mound, the three combining for six strikeouts and allowing four runs.

In game two, Rhett Driskell, Tommy Sand and Layne Sand all took the mound, but were overrun by the Titans who put up 17 unanswered runs in four innings.

The Panthers’ two runs in the first game came in the third inning. Freshman Brady McDonald opened the inning with his first varsity home run.

Tanner Ray hit a single to get on base. He made it to second on a sacrifice play by freshman Logan Stehr and then was hit home by Mikkelsen.

The inning marked a 2-1 lead for the Panthers, but they were shut out in the remainder of the game, and the Titans opened the fourth with a homer of their own.

“We wanted to jump on them getting off the bus,” Phipps said. “We had a good feeling if we executed our game plan in game one we would secure the win. Unfortunately we did not execute well enough to get that much needed W.”

The second game got out of hand quickly with Lewis Central scoring eight in the first inning. They continued to dominate, scoring three, two and five runs in the next three innings, respectively.

Creston logged only three hits against LC’s senior pitcher Gavin Harrington.

The home game scheduled Tuesday against Atlantic has been postponed to tonight at 7:30 due to inclement weather.