PANTHERS HOLD ON TO TIGHT GAME

05-13-09 - Monday the Panthers traveled to Coxsackie to take on the Indians. The game turned out to be a great pitchers’ duel, with Indians’ ace Chazz Griffiths and Panthers ace Cody Portin. Griffiths went the distance, turning in a great performance by allowing 6 hits, walking 4, and striking out 11. Griffiths allowed 2 runs (both scored on passed balls). Portin outdueled Griffiths by not allowing a run until the seventh and securing a 2-1 win for the Panthers. Cody struck out 4, walked 2, and scattered 5 hits in a complete game effort. 

Chatham jumped out in front in the top of the third when Parker Niles led off with a walk, stole second, and advanced to third on a passed ball. One batter later he scored on another passed ball. In the fifth, it was more of the same for Chatham as Joe Cozzolino singled, then worked his way around on two passed balls, and then, on a strike three that squirted away, crossed the plate to make it 2-0 for Chatham. In the bottom of the seventh, the Indians put together a rally when Griffiths doubled to deep center and then scored on a single by Devinney. Portin then got Hummer to pop up to the catcher and Pruiksma to ground out to third. With two outs, Lukas Palmater singled to left, but left fielder Jordan Sirani got the ball in quickly to hold Devinney at third. Cody Portin then got Szepessy looking at strike three to end the rally and the game. 

"Today's game was a showcase of pitching and defense. Griffiths was very good today. I give my guys a lot of credit as they battled him all day and put together a lot of good at bats. Portin worked just as good as he worked us out of jams in both the sixth and seventh innings. He pitched quickly and got ahead of most of the hitters, allowing only four base runners through the sixth inning. Our defense was solid and played heads up, getting a crucial double play in the sixth to thwart a rally." 

Offensively for the Indians, Griffiths had a double and Bushey, Devinney, Palmater, and Szepessy each had a single. For the Panthers, Joe Cozzolino had two singles, Gauthier, Boehme, Gleason, and Portin each had a single. 

Chatham’s record is 17-1 and 12-0 league. Next up is Ichabod Crane at Chatham on Thursday at 4 p.m.