Special to the Banner-News
Magnolia put together their best game of the year Saturday in the championship game of the Magnolia Spring Break Baseball Tournament and picked up a convincing 12-0 win over Lake Hamilton to claim the tournament championship. Magnolia won all three of their games in tournament by the 10 run rule, outscoring three opponents by a combined score of 47-7.
Coach Bobby Beeson said the Panthers came ready to play.
"I told the boys before the game this is the first time in this tournament we had been in the championship game. I told them to come out and play aggressive," said Beeson.
"It started out on the mound in the first inning. Zac (Harrington) came out and threw strikes like he always does and got us out of the inning. Then we came in and scored 3 runs in the first and that set the tone."
In that first inning, Blake Hall reached on an error to start the inning. Matt Goodheart followed with a walk. Brandon White reached on an error to score Hall. After Kory Callaway walked, Thomas Prince drove in two runs with a sharp single up the middle.
Magnolia picked up five runs in the second inning, all after two were out. Goodheart walked to start the rally. Devaughn Gales followed with a single. White doubled to score Goodheart. Callaway singled to drive in Gales and courtesy runner Caleb Ward. Prince singled, then Parker Ribble and Austin Miller each delivered RBI singles.
Magnolia picked up three more in the third inning. Hall was hit by a pitch to start the inning, then stole second. Goodheart drove him home with an RBI single. Gales followed with another RBI single to plate Goodheart. After a White single and Callaway walk, Gales scored on a wild pitch.
Magnolia scored their final run in the fourth inning when hall tripled to start the inning and scored on an error.
Gales, White and Prince each had two hits for the Panthers, with Hall, Goodheart, Callaway, Ribble and Miller getting one each.
Zac Harrington went the distance on the mound for the Panthers. He struck out three with no walks and allowed only two hits. He only threw 40 pitches in the game, only eight of which were balls. He improved his record to 2-0 on the season.
Coach Beeson said when Harrington is on the mound, the Panthers are a different team.
"I don't know what it is, but when he is on the mound we play with a lot more confidence. We know he is going to attack the strike zone, so our guys are always ready, and today was no different," said Beeson. "He attacked the hitters and was spotting both sides of the plate. He had his fastball really running and he threw his slider well too."
The Panthers placed four players on the all-tournament team. They were Callaway, Gales, Harrington and Prince.
Joining them on the all-tournament team were Gunnar Williams and Zack Muldoon from Lake Hamilton, Ben Lane from Taylor, Payton Massanelli from Spring Hill, Jake Bever from Camden, Gavin Johnson from Robinson, Chandler Tyson from North Webster and Chris Worthey from Parkers Chapel.
Other scores Saturday were Parkers Chapel 8, North Webster 0; Camden Fairview 6, Pulaski Robinson 3; and Taylor 13, Spring Hill 2 (third place).
The Panthers next game is a conference game at home against Camden Fairview Tuesday. First Pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Friday
The Panthers pounded out 13 hits and beat Spring Hill 16-6.
Magnolia scored three runs in the first and four in the second to jump out to a quick 7-0 lead after two innings.
Gales paced the Panthers at the plate by going 4-for-5. He had a triple, a double and two singles while driving in five runs. Harrington was 3-for-3 with two singles and a double. He drove in three, walked twice and scored four runs. Thomas Prince had two hits. Matt Goodheart, Kory Callaway, Caleb Ward, Dalton Miller, and Trevor Allen each had one hit for the Panthers. Callaway and Prince each had two RBI's. Ward scored three runs for the Panthers.
On the mound, Goodheart started and worked 2 2/3 innings. He allowed 4 hits and walked 2 while giving up five runs, three of which were earned. Allen came in and pitched the final 2 1/3 and picked up the win,
Beeson said, "Goodheart looked really good early. About the third inning he may have started getting tired and got the ball up a little. I told him you can't live with the ball waist high." "I thought Trevor came in and did a great job closing the door on them. He threw both his fastball and curve ball for strikes. His curve ball was really breaking sharply."
Others scores from Friday included Camden Fairview 15, North Webster 5; Pulaski Robinson 8, Parkers Chapel 4.
Thursday
A 13-run outburst in the third inning helped propel the Panthers to a convincing 19-1 win over the Parkers Chapel Trojans. The Panthers had 11 hits in the game to go along with five walks and five batters hit by pitches. Parkers Chapel also aided the Panther cause with seven errors.
In the third inning, Magnolia sent 19 batters to the plate.
In the game, Harrington, Hall, Goodheart and Gales had two hits apiece. White, Ribble and Miller had one each. Gales had three RBI's while Goodheart, White and Harrington had 2 each.
Dalton O'Donnell (2-0) got the win on the mound. He pitched 3 2/3 innings. He struck out nine and walked six while allowing only one hit. Brooks Lynch came in and struck out the only batter he faced. O'Donnell improved his record to 2 and 1 for the season. Other scores Thursday were Taylor 13, Camden Fairview 7; Lake Hamilton 15, North Webster 3; and Spring Hill 5, Pulaski Robinson 4.