Lions tamed by North Central
INDIANAPOLIS – The Rushville Lions traveled to North Central for a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.
In the first game the Lions fell behind early as the Panthers scored two first-inning runs and added five more in the second frame. They went up 10-0 after four innings and the Lions were finally able to get runs on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth frame. Quentin Cain got on base with a walk and Jack Barnes roped a double that scored Cain. Senior Bryce Berkemeier came up to bat with two runners on and homered to centerfield to make the score 10-4.
The game ended in the bottom of the fifth when the Panthers knocked two out of the park to go up 15-4. Maurice Manghelli threw four innings, allowed nine hits, three walks, six earned runs and six strikeouts. Chase Woolf pitched the final inning, walking two and giving up five runs. Only four Lions got a hit (Berkemeier, Manghelli, Barnes, and Nicholas Bowles) in the game.
The second game began with Rushville’s Kam Morton picking up two first-inning RBIs after knocking in Barnes and N. Bowles. Manghelli and Morton then scored on an error and RCHS was up 4-0 to start the game.
Berkemeier took the mound for Rushville in the second contest and North Central led off the bottom of the first inning with back-to-back solo home runs. An error on Rushville allowed another Panther to cross the plate, and a wild pitch, then a sacrifice scored two more North Central runs and Rushville had lost the lead, 5-4.
Berkemeier hit a batter to start the bottom of the second frame, then gave up a triple, a single, and a home run and it was 9-4 in North Central’s favor. Freshman Colin Taylor was brought in to pitch and the Panthers added another run on a single that dropped in front of N. Bowles. The Panthers hit three long balls in the bottom of the third inning, added eight more runs and the score was 19-4. Rushville added a run in the top of the fourth frame when Taylor scored on a passed ball.
An RBI single by North Central in the fourth inning was the final run scored in the game and the Lions fell 19-5. RCHS got just three hits in the game, one each from Berkemeier, Manghelli and Barnes. Ralph Eakins pitched an inning in the game and recorded three strikeouts. Berkemeier allowed eight runs with two strikeouts in his inning of work, and Taylor went two innings with four earned runs allowed, and two strikeouts.
The loss is the sixth in a row for the Lions, who are now 1-8 on the season. They face Lawrenceburg this week with an away game tonight and a home contest on Thursday.