The Saint Jo Panthers played Poolville at home on Friday night in another tough district game against a bigger school.
The Panthers competed, but ultimately lost to the Monarchs 9-2.
Poolville was able to score first thanks to three walks, a fielding error and a base hit to go up 2-0. Saint Jo was able to load the bases as Tyler Cook and Logan Morman drew a walk and Wyatt Geurin singled to center field. Unfortunately, the next batter popped up to first base to end the scoring chance.
In the second inning, a leadoff walk from the Monarchs came back to bite the Panthers. After two groundouts advanced the runner to third base, a balk by Saint Jo’s pitcher allowed the runner to score, giving Poolville at 3-0 lead.
The Panthers were able to respond. A leadoff walk from Brock Durham and two steals later put him on third base. Batter Preston Lyons was hit by a pitch. Connor Thompson was able to get Durham home on a sacrifice fly to right field and move Lyons to third base after tagging up. Cook was able to single to left field and drive in Lyons to cut the lead to 3-2 heading into the third inning.
All the momentum Saint Jo had just gotten was erased by the Monarchs. With four base hits, two walks, two hit batters and one fielding error, Poolville scored five runs to go up 8-2. After two pitching changes, Thompson was able to get the third out.
The Panthers offense tried to respond. They loaded the bases with base hits from Morman and Jace Johnson and a drawn walk from Eli Jones. Saint Jo just could not get any runners across as the next batter grounded out to third base for the third out.
A fielding error at third base and a walk looked like Poolville was ready to add on to its lead, but Thompson was able to strike out the next two batters to end the scoring chance. Besides getting a base runner on with two outs thanks to an error, the Panthers failed to do anything as the game moved to the fifth inning.
A leadoff single from the Monarchs paid off later. After swiping second base with a steal, a wild pitch allowed the runner to advance to third base. A ground out to second base got the runner home to make the score 9-2 for Poolville, but Saint Jo’s defense made the plays to not allow any other base runners that inning.
On offense, the Panthers had their first unsuccessful trip to bat as they got no base runners and were sat down in order as they entered the final two innings still down seven runs.
The Monarchs led off with a single, but Saint Jo was able to pull off a double play. The next batter bunted right to pitcher Thompson who got the runner out at first. The lead runner tried to stretch for third base, but was thrown out. The next batter struck out. Panthers repeated their effort from the fifth inning, failing to get a base runner on as the final inning approached.
Poolville was allowed to get a base runner on thanks to a fielding error from Saint Jo. The base runner was promptly thrown out trying to steal second base, but the Monarchs replaced him with a walked batter. Thompson was able to strike out the next batter for the third out.
Unfortunately, the Panther’s offense could not get any momentum going as the three batters were sat down in order to end the game. Poolville won 9-2.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.