Split - AAAA baseball title to be decided Monday

The Starr’s Mill Panthers took game one of the Class AAAA championship series 3-2 behind a strong pitching performance and great defense. Game two, not so much. The Northgate Vikings came out swinging in game two, stormed to a 3-0 lead after the first inning and won 10-3.

Drew Johnson got the win for Starr’s Mill in the first game, which saw the Panthers squander some early scoring opportunities. The Panthers had runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings but were unable to get a run across until Kevin Koziol’s RBI single in the fourth. In the bottom of the inning, Northgate got three straight hits, including an RBI single from Drew Tolbert to tie the game. Starr’s Mill had held their opponents scoreless for 17 straight innings before that.

Leading off the fifth inning, Jesse Baker hit a home run to give Starr’s Mill a 2-1 lead. Not to be outdone, Northgate got a home run in the bottom of the inning from Tyler Marvin. After a scoreless sixth inning, David Norman got things going for the Panthers with a single, Johnson walked and Miles Jaye had a two out hit that bounced off the pitcher’s leg and into the outfield to score the go ahead run. Johnson finished the game with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

Game two was the exact opposite for Starr’s Mill. Ken Jackson took the hill for Starr’s Mill, gave up a lead-of home run to Derek Hooper on the second pitch of the game and followed it up with a walk, an out, a double, two more walks (one which brought in a run), a sacrifice fly from Marvin and another out. After another walk to start the second (Starr’s Mill would walk nine Northgate runners in game two), Michael Jeanes came on in relief. He held the Vikings scoreless in the second and he and Jaye each drove in runs in the bottom of the inning with singles to make the game 3-2.

It wasn’t a close game for much longer. In the top of the third Northgate struck for four more runs. Weston Perry hit a double that got stretched into a triple on an error which drove in three runs and Kyle Lachance drove in one more off of a misplaced bunt. A wild pitch in the fifth brought another Northgate runner home. Conner Kendrick had an RBI double in the sixth and more run came in for Northgate. Johnson had an RBI single for the Panthers in the bottom of the inning, but they couldn’t muster much else.

Now it all comes down to Monday’s final game at 1 p.m. at Northgate. The Vikings have taken three of four from Starr’s Mill this season, but records are thrown out the window in games like this. Unless you’re fortunate enough to have a job that requires you to cover the game, you may want to play hooky for this one.

Bring sunscreen.