It’s amazing what a little hitting will do for a slumping squad.
Oconto Falls got out of an early-season offensive rut Saturday by scoring three or more runs in three different innings.
Panthers pitcher Hunter Magnin did the rest as Oconto Falls toppled Coleman 13-5 for its first victory of the season in a nonconference high school baseball game at Memorial Field.
“We hit the ball hard,” Oconto Falls coach Charlie Rochon said. “We really haven’t had that timely hitting, so to get that timely hitting is wonderful.”
Oconto Falls (1-4, 0-4 Bay Conference) broke a 1-1 tie in the second inning by scoring five runs. With the game tied at one in the second, Oconto Falls sent nine players to the plate, and five straight hitters ended up scoring. Sam Shroyer and Luke Truckey each had two-run doubles to put the Panthers up 6-1.
Oconto Falls added three more runs in the third as Brett Ash collected his second RBI of the game.
“It always feels good to get the first (win), but we made it interesting,” Rochon said. “Once we got up 9-1, I told the guys, ‘We have to put the pedal to the medal. We still have to put them down.’ And we didn’t do that, we let them back in.”
Coleman (5-2, 3-1 Marinette & Oconto) pulled to within 10-5 in the fifth, but Magnin took care of business the rest of the way, and the Panthers tacked on three insurance runs in the sixth without even tallying a hit.
Magnin, a senior righty, threw a complete game, striking out six while scattering 12 hits.
“I felt like I had more control as the game went on, got more comfortable with the pitches, started throwing strikes,” Magnin said. “My main pitch, the curveball, was working really well, and that’s the one I go to.”
Magnin threw 98 pitches, including 15 in the final two innings.
“Boy, did he have control today,” Rochon said. “I call the pitches and some of those were right where I wanted them, and it was like, ‘That’s beautiful.’”
Coleman coach Kent Casper was happy his players were able to face a strong pitcher early in the season to help prepare them.
“That’s what you want to see because we hadn’t seen that yet this year,” Casper said. “He has a pretty decent fastball, good curveball, and that’s what you want to see so the boys are ready as we go down the road.”
The Panthers had 10 hits for the game, two each by Michael Manns, Ash and Shroyer. Ash went 2 for 2 and reached base on all four plate appearances.
Following two one-run losses in the first two games of the season, Rochon believes the victory over Coleman will get his players on track.
“It’s big, because now we get a little bit of confidence,” Rochon said. “Every time you have a younger team like we do, especially in the conference we play in, anything you can get can help out. That confidence is huge.”
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