Panthers Ride Kline's Arm Into Dulles Semi's
For the second time in 2 weeks Jacob Kline took the mound for Potomac Falls against Joe Strange and the Loudoun County Raiders and the results were the same. Kline pitched a complete game seven hitter and the Panthers eliminated the Raiders in the Dulles District Quarterfinal matchup 11 - 3.
The Raiders notched the first run of the game in the 1st inning when Kevin Kabernagel drove a double to left field and then scored on Chris Eder's single to left. However, the Panthers responded with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. After Strange struck out the first 2 batters, he got into trouble, walking the next 3 he faced. The Panther scoring began when Strange then threw a wild pitch, scoriing Cory Flickinger from 3rd base, and John Bracken laced a double to right field to plate 2 more runners, before finally recording the final out of the inning.
The Raiders weren't to be counted out, however, as they tied the score in the top of the 2nd inning when Pat Dillon, Taylor Lambke, Alex Anderson and Bret Tagg all singled. The Panthers roared right back with 3 more runs in their half of the inning, on two walks, a hit batter and a two run single by Flickinger and Aaron Sweger to make the score 6 - 3.
Kline then settled into a nice routine and cruised through the rest of the game recording six strikeouts including all three batters in the 6th inning to pickup the win. The Panthers scored in every inning and were led by Aaron Sweger who was 3-3, Cory Flickinger 2-3 with 3 RBI's, and John Bracken with 2 RBI's.
The Panthers will now face the Freedom Eagles, upset victors over the Park View Patriots on Friday 6-3, and possibly, some are saying, the biggest upset the District has seen in a long time. These 2 teams square off on Tuesday night at Park View in the Semifinals of the Dulles District Championship.
