The Lewis County Middle School Panthers travelled to East Hickman to take on the Eagles to open their 2021 baseball season on Thursday, February 25th.

In the first inning, leadoff man Jalen Smith took a free pass and moved all the way to third base, but consecutive groundouts and a two-out strikeout ended the Panthers early scoring threat. Brayden Whitlow took the mound to start for the Panthers and allowed one baserunner, who reached on an error, before bringing the first to a close with the score tied at 0. The Panthers got the leadoff man aboard in the second with a Kolt Skelton walk but were again kept off the scoreboard as they failed to move a run across.

The Eagles were able to put two men on base against Whitlow in the second but failed to move beyond second base and the game was still tied after 2. The Panthers finally broke through in the top of the third, as Smith drew a 1-out walk and moved around on a Steele Moseley single and scored on one of 5 Eagle errors in the inning to tally the first of 5 Panther runs in the inning. Whitlow, staked with a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the third, took down the Eagles in order and held a 5-0 lead moving into the fourth.

Moseley led off the Panther fourth with a single and promptly stole second, setting up another score for Lewis County on a Brayden Whitlow double. Whitlow would later score on a groundout by Skelton, and the Panthers would hold a 7-0 lead moving into the bottom of the fourth. The fourth would be Whitlow’s best inning as he struck out the leadoff man and induce a double play after a walk to bring the fourth to a close.

The Panthers put the game away in the top of the fifth, as Dakota Hull, Maddox Tanner, Braylon Bean, Smith, and Moseley each reached base before the Eagles recorded an out and the Lewis County exploded for a 12-run inning taking a 19-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth. Whitlow ended the game in the fifth, retiring the final three Eagle batters by strikeout and taking the win.

Steele Moseley and Brayden Whitlow each had 2 runs and 2 hits, Moseley 2 RBI and Whitlow 4 RBI. Jalen Smith had 3 runs and 2 RBI, Sam Moore 1 hit, 2 runs, and 1 RBI, Kolt Skelton 2 runs and 2 RBI, Nate James, Phenix McDonald, and Cayleb Moore each scored a run, Dakota Hull 2 runs, 1 hit, and an RBI, Maddox Tanner 2 runs and an RBI, and Braylon Bean 1 run, 1 hit, and 2 RBI. Brayden Whitlow took the shutout win, allowing one hit and striking out 5.

The Panther JV took the field for a 2-inning game with the Eagle JV following the varsity game. Phenix McDonald drew a 1-out walk and moved around to score. The Eagles would tie the score in the bottom of the first against Panther starting pitcher Kegan Carroll-Clayton. In the second, the Panther JV would plate 5 more runs to build a 6-1 lead, and Dakota Hull would throw a scoreless bottom half of the second to seal the win for the Panther JV.