Ponies Slay Dragons to Finish 4-0 on the Week
The Panola Ponies began the week by heading to Longview, Texas to take on the Yellow Jackets of LeTourneau. The pitching staff dominated this game by striking out 15 over the course of the 9 innings. Garrett Hermes got the start and cruised through 4 innings only allowing 2 hits, no runs, and striking out 6. Lyle Hibbits, Juan Mateo, and Blaine Tomlin combined to finish the last 5 innings of the game. They tallied 9 punchouts on 5 hits and allowed 1 unearned run. The offense continued to do what it does best and find ways to score. Kade Simons and Michael Lawson both had multiple hits in the game and Lawson also added 2 RBIs. The Ponies stole 11 bases which is the most in a game this season. The Ponies went on to win by a score of 9-1.
Thursday's matchup against Paris started the second of conference play. The ponies finished the first half 8-7 and the start to the second half could never be so important. Chris Henderson took the mound for the Ponies and was very good. He went 5 strong innings only allowing 2 hits and striking out 6. The only hiccup Henderson made was giving up a homerun in the second inning following 2 walks. Henderson gave way to left hander Zach Goree and Goree proceeded to give no hope. He went 4 innings, 2 hits, 0 walks, and 4 strikeouts. The pitching staff and defense held their own allowing the offense to do its thing. The ponies pounded out 9 hits to a tune of 8 runs. Kade Clemens hit his 9th long ball of the season and Jordan Wiley had a big day going 3-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. The Ponies would go on to take game 1 by a final of 8-3.
Game 2 of the series was a big win for the team. After leading for 4 innings of the game (7 inning game), the Ponies surrendered the lead back to the Dragons. Coming to bat in the last inning the Ponies were down 2 with their last three outs at the Plate. After leading off the inning with a walk from Boulware and a single from Wiley, Kade Clemens stepped to the plate and hit a big time 3 run Homerun to give the team the lead back in the last inning. Zach Goree finished the game for the Ponies on the mound leading to a crucial game 2 win over the Dragons.
The series finale was all Panola. Jarrett Whorff was the main attraction. The freshman right-hander went 7 innings giving up no runs on 5 hits while striking out 8. He gave way to sophomore righty Gannon Reiswig. Reiswig had a perfect final 2 innings to close the game out for the Ponies. The offense was once again steady scoring 7 runs in the game. The big hits of the game were Ryne Ray and Clemens hitting long balls. It was Rays 5th of the year and Clemens hit his 11th of the year and 3rd of the series. The Ponies shutout the Dragons in the final game by a score of 7-0.
The Ponies are 27-13 on the year and tied for second at 11-7 in conference play.
UPCOMING GAMES
(4/9) Monday vs. Northlake @ Home, 3pm
(4/12) Thursday vs. Northeast Texas @ Northeast, 3pm *
(4/14) Saturday vs Northeast Texas @ Home, DH starting 1pm*
*Conference Game