Fifth-inning fallout sends Panthers to first defeat of season

Charles City Panther catcher Craig Jones Jr. (right) crawls to home plate to apply a tag on Armstrong's Troy Cook. Cook was ruled safe on the play.

Andre' Jones photo

A fifth inning surge by the visiting Armstrong Wildcats proved to be too much for Charles City’s Panthers to handle in a Mar. 17 baseball contest.

The visitors pushed across 10 runs in the top of the fifth frame, putting what was once a competitive contest out of reach as Armstrong defeated Charles City 16-2.

Wasting little time, Armstrong jumped out to a 1-0 lead from the get go after Troy Cook singled in Laphonso Walker. Walker would touch home plate after a passed ball and teammate Will Gary would duplicate the feat shortly afterwards to launch the visitors ahead 3-0 before Charles City stepped to the plate. Armstrong added a run in both the second and third innings to carry a 5-0 lead heading into the bottom of frame three.

The Panthers’ offense started making contact with the ball. Back-to-back singles by Devin Smith and Michael Callahan allowed the hosts a scoring opportunity. They made the most of it as Smith scored on a fielder’s choice during a double play, cutting the gap to three (4-1).

Armstrong bumped the lead up to five (6-1) courtesy of a sacrifice by Gary and Jake Adams crossing the pentagon on a passed ball. Charles City countered as a Derrick Richard drive to the outfield allowed Trevor Kelly to cross home plate to cut the deficit to four (6-2).

But the top of the fifth frame proved disastrous for the home-standing Panthers. After getting two of the first three batters out, Armstrong strung together six runs off six hits to garner a double digit lead (12-2). And even after Kelly struck out Armstrong’s Cook, a passed ball allowed the batter to advance to first and continue the inning. The result of the error was the accumulation of four more runs in the frame and a 16-2 lead heading to the bottom of the fifth. Three of the final four Charles City batters went down on strikeouts, ending the contest.

First year Panther head coach Demetric Leeper spoke about the mental breakdown in the fifth inning.

“We got to keep focus in those situations,” Leeper commented. “We were making small errors. We are a young team but we’re mature enough and have an understanding of the game.

“Right now, we’re making adjustments based off the strengths of the other team,” he continued. “We’re going to continue to work and get better as the season presses on.”

Charles City drops to 1-1 on the season.