A 9-6 win over Collinsville at home on Monday of last week completed Class 1A, Area 13 baseball action for the Spring Garden Panthers. The Panthers trailed 6-1 after Collinsville scored five runs in the top of the fifth inning. Spring Garden rallied with four runs in the home fourth and four more in the fifth.
In the decisive sixth, Spring Garden loaded the bases with no one out on singles by Tim Maxwell and Rob Robinson and a walk to leadoff hitter Jake Scott.
Maxwell scored on a Collinsville error. With the bases still loaded, Reece Johnson and Tyler Smart were hit by pitches – earning an RBI the hard way for each. A ground ball out by Andrew Morris scored T.J. Brittain.
Brittain had scored Spring Garden’s first run. In the third inning, he doubled, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Johnson’s sacrifice fly.
Scott opened the fifth with a triple and scored when Johnson doubled. After Smart walked, Morris doubled to score Johnson. Smart and Morris scored when Collinsville was unable to field a deep fly ball by Andrew Maddox.
Maddox, a freshman, pitched a seven-inning complete game. He struck out 10 despite periods of rain and sleet during the contest and allowed five earned runs.
The next day Spring Garden finished its season with losses to Piedmont and Ragland. The games were played at Piedmont.
Piedmont defeated the Panthers 13-3. Spring Garden scored its runs in the fifth inning. Maxwell reached first when Piedmont’s catcher was unable to hold on to the ball on a strikeout.
With two out, Brittain, Johnson and Smart delivered back-to-back-to-back RBI doubles. Morris was the only Panther with two hits, a pair of singles.
Ragland scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat Spring Garden 10-9. The Panthers (7-16) opened the game with consecutive singles by Scott, Brittain, Johnson and Smart. Johnson and Smart drove in Scott and Brittain. Morris hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Johnson and Maddox singled to plate Smart.
After Ragland scored four unearned runs in the home first, Brittain doubled and later scored on an error for a 5-4 lead. Two more runs for the Purple Devils in their second had Ragland up 6-5 after two innings.
Again the Panthers rallied. Robinson was hit by a pitch in the third and scored when Bill Frey doubled. Frey scored on an error by Ragland. Ragland added a single run in the third to knot the score at 7-7.
In the fourth, Morris belted a home run to deep centerfield. Spring Garden maintained its 8-7 lead until the Devils scored once in the seventh to again tie the game.
Brittan scored again in the eighth, reaching second on an outfield error. Smart’s base hit then scored Brittain. Ragland scored twice in its half of the eighth to win.
Morris pitched all eight innings for the Panthers. He struck out nine and gave up seven hits and five earned runs.
“He finished his season off with a great performance there against Ragland,” said Spring Garden coach Tony Benefield. “We just didn’t have a lot of defense behind him.”
Morris’ nine strikeouts against Ragland gave him 54 on the season in 47 innings of work.
