PANTHERS SPLIT TRIP NORTH ON THE DIAMOND

Greg Dedrick
ccSCOOP Sports Editor

04-21-09 - Chatham traveled to the far north on Saturday to take on Glens Falls and South Glens Falls in a nonleague doubleheader. In the first game at Glens Falls, Chatham jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first when Brian Gauthier reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on a throwing error by the shortstop. Two batters later, Ryen "Pudge" Boehme laced an RBI single between the shortstop and third baseman to score Gauthier. The lead was short-lived though as Glens Falls first four batters reached base via a walk and three ground ball singles. Cole Gleason then struck out a batter and got an infield pop-up before getting the final batter to fly out to left field to thwart a possible big inning.

Chatham took back the lead in the third when Matt Fischer reached on an error and Parker Niles singled. Gauthier followed with an RBI groundout, and Joe Cozzolino scored Niles with an RBI single through the right side of the infield. The Panthers tacked on their fourth run in the fifth when Gauthier launched a double to center field and scored two pitches later when Cozzolino smacked another ball through the right side.

Glens Falls rallied in the bottom of the sixth by bouncing two balls through the infield, an attempted sacrifice bunt and then a fielder’s choice. With two outs and trailing by a run, Glens Falls took the lead on a clean single to center and a single to left. Chatham then made back-to-back errors to allow the sixth and final run to score.

The Panthers went down 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh to absorb their first loss of the season. "We made some mental mistakes that cost us the game. We ran into an out on the bases and fell asleep in the field, and Glens Falls took advantage of it. Cole threw well enough to win. He allowed 8 singles and 4 or 5 were bouncers through the infield. We hit well overall but didn't get the two out hits we have been getting to this point," said Panthers coach Scott Steltz via email.

Chatham then piled on the bus and headed south to South Glens Falls and again jumped out to an early lead when Gauthier doubled and Cozzolino singled him home. South Glens Falls took the lead in the bottom of the second when they scored 3 runs.

Chatham answered right back in the top of the third when they put up 5 runs by having seven of the first eight batters of the inning reach base, including two RBI singles from Boehme and Mike Sirani and an RBI single from Gleason. The game was back and forth all day, but South Glens Falls couldn't slow down the Panther bats, and when it became final, the Panthers had put up 15 runs on 17 hits to win by the margin of 15-9.

Gauthier was 4 for 4 on the day with a double, 2 RBIs, and 3 runs scored. Boehme launched a home run deep over the center field wall and ended up 3 for 5 with 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Joe Cozzolino was 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs and 3 runs scored, and Parker Niles was 2 for 5 with a triple and 3 runs.

"On top of the offense we threw the ball well with two new arms taking to the hill. Nick Faxon got the start and went 4 and 2/3 striking out 4 and allowing 8 hits and 6 runs (4 earned runs). Chris Williams finished up the game and allowed 3 runs on 2 hits. It was good to see these guys in a game situation. They both threw the ball well and can play an important role this season and in the future." said Steltz of his two new pitchers. "That was the best hitting team we faced to this point, and they handled them well. We need to get back to playing the defense we are capable of as we head into a tough week in league play with a game against Rensselaer on Monday and back to back with Cairo on Thursday and Friday."

Chatham’s record is 7-1 overall and 5-0 in league. Their Monday matchup with Rensselaer should be an interesting one, with the Rams having some decent pitching and the Panthers hitting the ball as well as anybody in the league. Cairo-Durham played ICC close in their first game before falling 10-4, so the doubleheader against the Mustangs should give the Panthers a good idea of where they at compared to the other top teams in the league.