Tigers drop tough home contest
By Eric Wade
Nevada Daily Mail
The Nevada Tigers varsity baseball team fell just short in their first true test of the season Wednesday, falling to the St. Mary's Colgan Catholic School 7-5 in eight innings.
The Panthers of St. Mary's Colgan came into the game having won the last five Kansas state Class 2-1A championships and seven of the last 10. Wednesday's game was the first of the year for the Panthers, but they finished out last season with an overall record of 24-1 on their way to their fifth consecutive championship.
"St. Mary's Colgan is a tough team year in and year out," head coach Kellan Foster said. "They will be a tough opponent for us today."
That turned out to be the case as the Tigers were able to get two walks to open the game, but Nate Arnold's very strong effort on the mound kept the Tigers from getting a hit, stranding both runners on the base paths. Nevada got a strong start on the mound, however, from Ron Johnson as he was able to shut the Panthers down almost completely.
Both teams threatened in the opening frame, but were eventually shut down and kept off the board. An infield hit and a walk gave Colgan the first runner in scoring position of the game, but the two quick outs that Johnson started with in the game allowed the Tigers to come out of the frame with no damage when D.J. Russian flied out to center immediately following Nick Whetzell's two-out walk.
The Panthers eventually went on to strike first in the game, touching Johnson for one run in the third inning on their fourth and fifth hits of the game. Johnson and Taylor Scotten were able to get the Tigers' offense going in the bottom of the fourth inning as Johnson was able to get on base with a leadoff double and Scotten followed with a booming home run over the left field wall to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
Colgan answered quickly in their half of the fifth inning, capitalizing on the Tigers' only error of the game to tie the score at 2-2.
From that point on in the game, the two teams found themselves in a very even contest and Colgan's pitching rotation ultimately turned out to be the difference maker in the game as they used a total of five different pitchers in the game's eight innings.
"It's always tough when you face a different pitcher every two innings," Foster said. "It makes it hard for the kids to get into a rhythm."
The Panthers looked as though they may be able to put the game away as they were able to touch Nevada's second relief pitcher of the game, Austin Baldwin, for one run in the top of the sixth to take a 3-2 lead, but the Tigers refused to go down without a fight. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Tigers took advantage of two walks, Shepherd's second stolen base of the game and the fifth error of the day by the Panthers to tie the game with two out in the frame.
As the eighth began, Nevada reliever Kohlten Wilson got off to a rocky start, allowing the first five batters he faced to reach the base paths and eventually giving up four runs before he was able to get out of the inning. The Tigers made a comeback in the bottom of the eighth, but it proved to be not quite enough as the Panthers were able to shut down Nevada's offense and take the win by a final score of 7-5.
With that loss, the Tigers fall to 1-1 on the season and are scheduled to travel to Carthage for what could be another tough contest this afternoon, weather permitting.