Thursday, May 16th, 2024
Steady in the clutch
Hitting, pitching both strong as Parkway beats New Bremen
By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Parkway's Apollo Thomas leaps after scoring a run during Wednesday's Division IV sectional baseball game with New Bremen. The Panthers advance in the tournament with a 10-1 victory.
NEW BREMEN - To sum up the key to Parkway's success on Wednesday, they simply followed the words of "Skip" Riggins from the movie "Bull Durham": "You throw the ball. You hit the ball. You catch the ball."
The Panthers scored their first five runs on two-out hits and Trent Rollins forced New Bremen to hit it right to the defense in picking up a 10-1 victory in the Division IV baseball sectional at New Bremen High School.
Parkway (7-11) travels to St. Henry tonight for the sectional final. New Bremen ends its season at 8-11.
Rollins scattered five hits, only walked one batter and struck out two. The Panthers played flawless defense and came up with several gems, including catcher Kolt Harner making a running catch in foul territory to end the second inning.
"He's been consistent all year," said Panthers coach Neil Schaffner of Rollins. "He hit his spots and got all three of his pitches over for strikes to keep (New Bremen) off-balanced all game. I thought we played a real good defensive game."
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Trent Rollins threw a complete-game five hitter as Parkway defeated New Bremen 10-1.
New Bremen starter Gavin Quellhorst got the first two outs in the first inning before Jacoby Triplett doubled. Braxton Ford followed with a single to score Triplett. In the second, with Fletcher Smith at first with two outs, Apollo Thomas hit an RBI double to make it 2-0.
After Quellhorst got the first two outs in the fourth, the Panthers broke the game open. Ben Bates walked and moved to third on Thomas' double. Devon Crouch singled home both runs, then came home when Triplett doubled to right to make it 5-0.
"That's when the guys came up clutch," said Schaffner. "They were loose and swung the bats at the right pitches. They hit the ball hard."
James Nelson came on in the fifth and retired the side in order, then allowed a run on a wild pitch in the sixth. In the seventh, four Cardinal errors allowed Parkway to bat around and score four runs with Caiden Berry and Smith each getting RBI singles.
"Kudos to (Parkway). They had a good approach," said New Bremen coach Chad Wells. "They found some holes and came with good energy."
Rollins, in the meantime, was cruising, allowing just four hits through the first five innings. New Bremen avoided the shutout in the sixth as Aaron Thieman led off with a double and scored on a fielder's choice grounder by Jack Sailer.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
New Bremen third baseman Jack Sailer fields a ground ball against Parkway.
Undeterred, Rollins struck out Carson Keller to end the sixth, then only needed four pitches in the bottom of the seventh to retire the side. He threw just 64 pitches, 45 for strikes.
"(Rollins) did a nice job. He pounded the zone," said Wells. "They played defensively very well and made some nice plays."
Thomas hit 3-for-5 with an RBI from the leadoff spot for Parkway. Triplett also was 3-for-5 with Smith adding two hits.
Nolan Kuenning and Thieman each hit doubles for New Bremen.
