PANTHERS IMPROVE TO 2-0

Greg Dedrick
ccSCOOP Sports Editor

04-09-09 - The Chatham Panthers improved to 2-0 in the Patroon Conference on Wednesday when they hosted Greenville and defeated them for the second time this season with a score of 13-2.

The Spartans jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Zeitler reached on a wild pitch ball four that put him at second base. Fox followed with a two-out bloop to right field that was misplayed and turned into a run. Chatham instantly responded in the bottom of the first when they plated 10 runs on a combination of walks and hits by Parker Niles (2 hits in the inning), Matt Fischer, and a three-run home run by Mike Sirani and a grand slam by Joe Cozzolino.

Chatham tacked on one more run on in the second and two in the third. Greenville put up another run in the fourth to round out the scoring for the day.

Greco and a host of players toed the rubber for the Spartans, while Brian Gauthier (win, 8 Ks, 5 BBs, 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned) and Matt Fischer (struck out 3, 1 BB, and 1 hit) combined on the mound for the Panthers.

Offensively for Chatham, Parker Niles was 2 for 3 with 2 runs and 2 SBs, Jordan Sirani was 2 for 3, and Mike Sirani was 2 for 2 with 3 RBIs. The Greenville hits came off the bat of Sheridan, Cook, and Lopresti.

"On the day I thought we played well. We were patient at the plate and played solid defensively. The elements were not kind to the pitchers, but our guys did a nice job despite the frigid temperatures. Matt Fischer worked quickly and down in the zone in his three innings, and when he gets ahead of batters like that, he is very tough to hit," said Chatham coach Scott Steltz via email.

Tomorrow the Rensselaer Rams visit for a 4 p.m. start at the HS field.