Panthers rally to win in 10th

Glenwood’s baseball team was three outs away from picking up a Hawkeye 10 road win at Creston Friday night, leading 3-0 after six stellar shutout innings by senior pitcher Ryan Turner.

Turner, however, was pulled after allowing one hit in six innings and 87 pitches. He’s making a comeback from Tommy John elbow surgery that sidelined him last year.

Creston rallied with three runs in the seventh inning to force extra innings, and Brady McDonald’s ground ball drove in Tyler Riley in the 10th inning with the winning run in a 4-3 Panther victory.

“We just knew we had one last chance and they switched pitchers, so we said give it everything we’ve got,” Creston coach Brandon Phipps said. “That’s baseball for you. We’ve had a lot of fight this year.”

The Panther hitters saw Turner’s exit as the dawning of a new day, immediately greeting lefthanded reliever Ben Carlo with a resurgent offense. Tom Mikkelsen started it with a single to center field and McDonald drove a single to right field.

Parker Varner, who also went six innings and kept the Panthers within striking range with 10 strikeouts, drew a walk to put the tying run on base.

Mikkelsen and McDonald both scored on a passed ball as the ball squirted free from Carlo covering the plate. Mattias Schultes and Panther reliever Landyn Scherer drew walks to load the bases.

Glenwood coach Dave Clark called on catcher Korbin Pelzer to take the mound. Pelzer got the first out on a strikeout, but leadoff batter Riley drove in Varner with the tying run on a sacrifice fly to right field. Pelzer quelled the rally as the game moved into extra innings at 3-3.

Scherer, a freshman righthander, started his stint allowing a double and batter hit by pitch before settling into an effective performance. Glenwood’s threat with runners on second and third in the eighth ended with a strikeout, one of six recorded by Scherer in four innings.

Both teams went scoreless in the ninth, but Glenwood put a lot of pressure on Scherer and the Panther defense by loading the bases with no outs in the top of the 10th. The Rams went down on two infield popups caught by McDonald at the plate and Camden Smith at third base. Left fielder Brayden Schoon gloved a flyball to end the threat.

Riley led off the Panther 10th with a walk. With one out, shortstop Tanner Ray doubled down the left field line. Mikkelsen was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

With the Ram infield playing in for a forceout at the plate to keep the game deadlocked, McDonald hit a bouncer toward the right side, picked up near the mound by Pelzer. His throw to the plate was dropped as Riley arrived from third with the winning run.

The Panthers rushed the field in a celebration, improving to 6-7 overall and 3-4 in conference play. Glenwood fell to 1-7 and 1-6.

Phipps said his team stayed in the game mentally despite the inability to generate any offense against Turner.

“It was kind of a case of just hanging in there,” Phipps said. “We knew that kid (Turner) was good. He threw against us two years ago in districts (3-2 loss in another solid start by Creston’s Varner). Then he had Tommy John last year, but we knew if he was coming back he was going to be a really good player. He’s back for his senior year, and he’s going to play college ball. I thought PV (Varner) threw well enough to win; we just had a few mishaps there. Nobody was swinging it great on either side.”

Varner was pulled after 82 pitches, allowing no earned runs with 10 strikeouts and one walk. The Panthers have three more conference games looming, with a doubleheader at Denison Monday followed by a trip to Atlantic on Tuesday.

Scherer made his fourth appearance of the season, which includes two starts. Phipps said the freshman has proven to be reliable in critical situations.

“We call him Scrappy, because that’s just who he is,” the Panther coach said. “He just goes out there and battles. I don’t know how he got that nickname from the kids, but I view him as a kid who’s just out there grinding all the time. He’s like our mini-Parker Varner. They are both very calm and composed and just want to go out there and compete.”

While Turner’s talent was a factor, Phipps acknowledged the Panther offense has room to grow. It’s a mix of young players and proven veterans in the lineup after graduating seven key contributors from last year’s team. Ray, Mikkelsen, McDonald and Smith each had one hit.

Creston came into Friday’s game batting .182 for the season and didn’t improve that by going 4 of 31 at the plate (.129) against the Rams. But, four hits proved to be enough to get the win.

“We have a lot of young talent that we believe in and our seniors who are leading us,” Phipps said. “We haven’t honestly swung it great so far, but I think we’re coming around a little bit. Tonight was probably the first time we’ve seen true velo (velocity) like that. We just have to develop that part of our game.”

Creston 4, Glenwood 3 (10)

Glenwood pitching: Ryan Turner 10K 3BB, Ben Carlo (7) 0K 3BB, Korbin Pelzer (7) 4K 2BB. Creston pitching: Parker Varner 10K 1BB, Landyn Scherer (7) 6K 0BB. W — Scherer. L— Pelzer. 2B — G: Benn Christianson, Ryan Turner. Cr: Tanner Ray. RBI — G: Christianson 1, Carlo 1. Cr: Tyler Riley 1, Brady McDonald 1. Multiple hitters — G: Christianson 3, Turner 2.