Panthers Continue to Roll - Blast Patriots
Storyline Provided by Panther Baseball Gameday Insider
The Potomac Falls baseball team continued their rise in the Dulles District, and kept their recent magic alive, with a 9-2 upset victory over 1st place Park View on Senior Night at Panther Park. Jacob Kline goes the distance, and the Panthers broke open a close game with a six run 5th inning.
Potomac Falls started the scoring in the bottom of the 1st inning when Cory Flickinger hit a single to left field and Aaron Sweger followed with shot off the left center field fence for a triple. After a walk to Rob Malan, John Bracken then hit a two run single to righ tfield to plate Sweger and Malan and give the Panthers a 3-0 lead that they would not relinquish.
In the top of the 2nd inning, Park View pitcher Matt Griffin led off with a single up the middle and scored one batter later when Billy Bradley hit a rope to center field for a double. Kline then induced the next two batters to fly out leaving Bradley stranded at second.
Park View pushed another run across the plate in the 3rd inning when Dave Laub led off with a single. Laub next stole second base, and scored on a line drive to center field by Kyle Irish to cut the lead to 3-2. The Shenandoah bound Griffin then got into a groove and recorded 6 strikeouts over the next three innings.
The Patriots threatened again in the 5th inning when Adam Foltz singled to lead off the inning. He was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Laub. Nathan White then singled to move Foltz to third base and White then promptly stole second base. With first base open, the Panthers opted to walk Dylan Smith to load the bases and face Irish. Kline then threw a low pitch that Irish hit to short and the Panthers turned the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
With the Panthers fired up after the double play, their bats came alive in the bottom half of the inning. James Waggoner led off with a double to right field and moved to third base on a wild pitch. After the next two batters flew out, Flickinger singled to score Waggoner. Sweger then followed with a single to right and Malan hit another single to score Flickinger. After an error loaded the bases, Chad McMichael cleared them with a 3 run double to left\center field. Kline then helped himself with a single to right to score the final run of the inning and put the Panthers up 9-2.
Kline breezed through the final two innings to pick up the complete game win. Highlights of the game for Potomac Falls were Aaron Sweger going 3-4 (single, double, triple) 1 RBI, Cory Flickinger going 2-3, 1 RBI, Chad McMichael 3 RBI's, John Bracken 2 RBI's, and Jacob Kline's complete game 7 hitter which included no walks. For the Patriots, Nathan White was 2-4, Kyle Irish 1-3, 1 RBI and Billy Bradley 1-3, 1 RBI.
Potomac Falls will complete their regular season schedule with a trip to Dominion on Tuesday, May 15, before entering the Dulles District tournament later that week.
