St. Mary's Colgan baseball finished the regular season in run-rule style with a 12-2 win in five innings Monday night at historic Jaycee Ballpark.
Senior pitcher Jayden Brown fired an one-hitter over four innings and he struck out eight and walked one. Meanwhile, Colgan scored four runs during each of the first three innings and held a 12-0 lead entering the fifth; Iola scored two runs and loaded the bases with a chance to extend the game to six innings when Gabe Brown picked up his second strikeout of the inning and ended the game.
The Panthers worked eight walks during the first two innings, including six in the first against Iola starter Jakolby Hill, and collected nine hits, all singles. Brock Radell led with three hits and Caleb Garner and Brady Bettega added two each. Jayden Brown, Brady Badart and Brady Crossland each walked twice.
"I was very glad to see it, very good back-to-back performances, he (Brown) was throwing strikes and mixing in his changeup and his curveball," Colgan baseball coach Mike Watt said. "Pitching backwards a little bit and then he's throwing that fastball right by him. Again, very good and very exciting to see him throwing that well.
"There were some walks and some passed balls, but we ran the bases well and we came through and had eight or nine hits and produced runs that way, too. So, overall, a very good game."
The Panthers started a nearly all-senior lineup on Monday with only junior Bettega and later Gabe Brown breaking the pattern. Crossland, Carston Simmons, Garner, Anthony Schremmer, Joe Lomshek, Badart, Jayden Brown and Radell enjoyed one more win at Jaycee and they were honored before and posed for a group photo with the coaching staff after the game.
"That was exciting, the fact that we got all the seniors in and they got to play a full game," Watt said. "Everybody on our team is important and it was nice to see them get some time."
The Panthers (14-7) return home Thursday for their Class 2-1A sub-regional semifinal against No. 14-seeded Oswego (5-14). It will be the seventh home game in a row for the defending 2-1A state champions and the teams are slated for a first pitch at 5 p.m.
"Yes, we were able to get Gabe out there and get him some good solid pen before Thursday," Watt said. "We're just looking forward to it and the postseason's here. We're just going to have to try, as we always do, to win one game at a time and keep trying to get better everyday. It's nothing new. We just hope to keep it rolling."
The Panthers have won a state-record 18 state titles under Watt (first one in 1993 and most recent one last season) and 22 overall dating back to 1964.
Iola 000 02 — 2 4 3
Colgan 444 0x — 12 9 0
Jakolby Hill, Easton Weseloh (2), Ruger Boren (3) and Kale Pratt; Jayden Brown, Gabe Brown (5) and Carston Simmons. W: J. Brown. L: Hill.
This sports reporting is made possible, in part, by the Support Local Journalism Project Fund. Learn more at: southeastkansas.org/fund/support-local-journalism-project-fund/
