BRADFORD, PA - La Roche Baseball faced off against Pitt-Bradford on their home field this afternoon in a d doubleheader challenge.
GAME ONE
Game one game down to the wire for both the Panthers and the Redhawks.
La Roche drew the first run from an RBI walk drawn by Mason Brooks.
The Panthers' however took the lead in the fifth inning.
La Roche wasn't ready to throw in the towel quite yet and tied to game up in the seventh inning. Three runs were scored; Sam DiCicco and Brooks earned RBIs in the inning. This forced an extra inning in game one as conference play doubleheaders are one 7-inning game and one 9-inning game. Unfortunately for the Redhawks, they did not have the outcome they would have wanted.
The Panthers drove in the winning run to earn the walk-off win.
Nate Darwin socked one home run in the top of the fourth inning, he also led at the plate, with two hits in three bats.
Chris Tarquinio took the loss on the mound, The southpaw threw for four and two-thirds innings, surrendering six runs on nine hits, and striking out one.
GAME TWO
Game two saw the Redhawks come back with determination. Taking down the Panthers in game two 8-1.
La Roche had two big three-run innings. First in the third inning, and next in the seventh. A hard rainstorm forced both teams to decide to only play a seven-inning game in order to avoid getting rained out.
The team's first big inning was led by the offensive firepower of Nathan Stutz and Kyle Weizel. Christian Melendez put the ball in play and gave both batters the opportunity to cross home plate.
Mason Brooks socked a ball into center field in order to allow Melendez to come home. Giving the Redhawks a 3-0 lead.
La Roche's second big inning was led by Zach Keib, reaching base on a single. Tanner Kobal followed suit singling to right field and driving Keib home.
Stutz hammered a triple into center field, sending Kobal home. Weitzel once again came through for his team and smack a sacrifice fly into the outfield, still giving Stutz the opportunity to tag up and cross home plate. By the end of the inning, the Redhawks owned an 8-0 lead moving into the final inning of the game.
The Panthers made an attempt to come back, scoring one run in the bottom fo the seventh, but with impending rain, there would not be any further innings.
The Redhawks earned their split with the Panthers, 8-1.
Shane Murphy recorded the win on the mound for La Roche. The hurler lasted all seven innings allowing five hits and one run while striking out three batters.