Panthers pound out pair of wins over Knights

SALINA — Racking up 34 runs, the Concordia High School baseball team notched two wins over Sacred Heart in a doubleheader on Monday.
Four players drove in two or more runs each as the Panthers cruised to a 15-1 victory in the first game of the twinbill.
Concordia then put up nine runs in the top of the seventh inning to pull away to a 19-8 win in the second game.
The Panthers (4-0) finished with 32 hits in the two games.
“That is our strength now. We are hitting line drives and ground balls and not popping the ball up and not swinging at bad pitches,” Concordia coach Brandt Hutchinson said.
Concordia got out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning in game one.
Jacob Williams led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice by Wyatt Trost.
Chas Carlgren and Gavin Thomas each doubled.
A two-out single by Tryston Jochems got two runs home.
Jochems scored on a double by Tim Peltier.
The Panthers extended the lead to 7-0 with three runs in the second inning.
Nick Vignery singled and Trost walked.
A sacrifice by Carlgren plated Vignery.
Jochems walked with bases loaded to force home a run.
Gavin Thomas walked and scored on a passed ball.
Vignery singled, stole second and scored on a base hit by Trost in the top of the third inning to push the lead to 8-0.
Sacred Heart scored its only run in the third inning, and trailed 8-1.
Run producing singles by Thomas and Jochems gave Concordia a 10-1 cushion.
The Panthers added five runs in the sixth inning.
A hit batter and two singles loaded the bases.
Carlgren knocked in two runs with a single.
Trost scored on a base hit by Thomas.
With the bases loaded, Jochems was hit by a pitch to force home a run, and Ivon Owen walked to get another run home.
The game ended after six innings because of the 10-run rule.
Chase Parker pitched the first three innings to get the win. He gave up one run on five hits, struck out five and walked one.
Jochems worked three hitless innings. He struck out eight.
Concordia scored 15 runs on 18 hits.
Jochems was 2-for-3 at the plate with five runs batted in .
Carlgren had three hits in three at bats, drove in three runs and scored three.
Thomas and Trost each had three hits, drove in two runs and scored three.
Williams and Vignery had two hits and scored two runs each.
Single runs in the first and second innings gave Concordia a 2-0 lead in the second game.
Sacred Heart made it 2-1 with a run in the bottom of the third inning.
Sending 12 batters to the plate, the Panthers scored eight runs in the top of the fourth inning to make it a 10-1 game.
Trost drove in two runs in the inning.
The Knights would pick up one run in the fifth inning and four in the sixth to close the gap to 10-7.
Concordia put the game out of reach, 19-7, with nine runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Williams, Vignery and Hunter Schroeder knocked in two runs each.
Sacred Heart added one run in the bottom of the seventh
Thomas gave up one earned run on four hits in three and a third innings to get the win. He struck out seven and walked two.
Carlgren pitched one inning and allowed one run on two hits. He struck out three and walked one.
Williams went two and two-thirds innings. He gave up six runs, one earned, on three hits, struck out five and walked three. He also had two hits, drove in four runs and scored two.
“Defensively right now we are not very good. That is something we are going to have to get better at in practice,” Hutchinson said, “We can't give up six unearned runs a night.”
Trost was 2-for-5 at the plate, drove in three runs and scored two.
Carlgren had three hits. He knocked in two runs and scored three.
Schroeder was 2-for-5 with two runs batted in. He scored three runs.
Vignery drove in two runs and scored two.
The Panthers will be on the road for a doubleheader against Riley County on Friday.