Sheldon baseball drops Sectional game

Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Photos by Eric Wade/Daily Mail Sheldon's Corey Baney connects for one of the Panthers' two fifth-inning hits during Monday's state playoff game at Lakeland High School.

By Eric Wade

Daily Mail Sports Editor

DEEPWATER, Mo. -- Six days after winning its first district championship in 19 years, the Sheldon Panthers baseball team headed back out on the road to compete in the Sectional round of the Class 1 state championship tournament.

Sheldon's Jesse Spencer connects for the second of the Panthers' two fifth-inning hits during Monday's game.

The Panthers entered the contest knowing they would be at a distinct disadvantage, since they were not only playing on the home field of the Lakeland Vikings, but head coach Steve Kuchta's squad also brought a 19-5 record that featured wins over Adrian, Lincoln, Warsaw, Archie, Osceola, Skyline, Cole Camp, Pleasant Hope, Seymour, Marionville, Sparta, Rich Hill, Grain Valley and Boonville, which are all Class 2, 3 and 4 schools. That tough schedule was more than the Vikings needed to cruise to a 23-0 victory in five innings to put an end to Sheldon's season.

Panthers head coach Jason Irwin said after the contest that his squad was simply overmatched and it showed right from the start, as Lakeland starter Gable Dull had a perfect game through the contest's first four innings. By the time all was said and done, the Panthers were able to record a pair of hits in the fifth inning by Jesse Spencer and Corey Baney, but never were able to find the scoreboard as Dull put down the threat in the fifth inning with three strikeouts.

The Panthers never really were able to catch up with the hard-throwing right-hander, leading to a quick game for Sheldon, on the offensive side of the ball. The same could not be said for the Vikings, however, as they got to the Panthers' pitching staff early and often.

Sheldon's Micah Swanson pitches during Monday's Sectional game at Lakeland High School.

Not only did the Panthers enter the contest knowing that the Vikings had a well-balanced lineup that was capable of producing hits from top to bottom, but also that Kuchta's squad had a very opportunistic nature, taking full advantage of any mistakes by the opposition. Right from the start, the Panthers found out about that opportunistic offense, the hard way, as the Vikings turned three hits, two Sheldon errors and a hit batter by starter Micah Swanson into five quick runs.

Swanson went on to allow one more run on one hit and Sheldon's third error of the day in the second inning before finding a rhythm and putting the Vikings down in short order in the third. In the fourth, however, the flood gates opened.

Already up, 6-0, the Vikings' offense didn't let up and put an end to Swanson's day on the mound with three more runs in the fourth inning. That wasn't all, however, as reliever Reed Worsley wasn't able to do much of anything with the Lakeland offense as he allowed four runs on one hit, a hit batter and three bases-loaded walks before giving up the mound to Zach Enochs, who finished out the inning to send the contest to the fifth with Lakeland up, 13-0.

In the fifth inning, the Vikings used eight hits -- including a grand slam home run -- to plate 10 more runs before all was said and done. That sent the Panthers into the home half of the fifth inning down by 23 and needing to score at least 14 runs to extend the game.

Though the Panthers did get off to a promising start with a pair of one-out hits in the inning, Dull ultimately put down the threat in short order, securing Lakeland's 23-0 win.

With the loss, the Panthers finished the season with an overall record of 8-8, while Lakeland improved to 20-5 and will face Dadeville in the Class 1 state quarterfinals on Wednesday. Dadeville punched its ticket to the quarterfinal round with a 12-7 Sectional victory over Greenfield Monday.

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