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closePanthers bats are key to victory against Spartans
Bonney Lake knocks Sumner out of playoff contention on April 25
Shaun Scott
In a contest where homeruns were the name of the game, the Bonney Lake Panthers’ heavy hitters came through when they needed it the most against the visiting Sumner Spartans on April 25 at Bonney Lake High School.
With the outcome of a contest still very much in doubt, the Panthers scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, propelling themselves to a 13-6 victory against Sumner. Bonney Lake batted around in the bottom of the sixth as Michael Wheeler, Colton Nash, Cody Resser, Jesse Mayfield, Ryan Journey and Nate Wilson crossed the plate putting the game on ice.
Bonney Lake’s Nathaniel Wilson went 3-for-4, blasting two runs while collecting 5 RBI. Both teams combined to hit five balls out of the park.
“I was trying to hit the ball hard,” Wilson said. “That was my goal. Lately, I’ve been in kind of a slump and I just kept pushing and finally got out of it today.”
Bonney Lake head coach Mike Olson praised Wilson for getting the job done at the plate.
“Wilson had some big ones for us today,” Olson said. “His three run homer in the fifth was huge for us. The game was tied at that point and it gave us a three run cushion. We’ve been looking for a guy to step up for us and I’m glad he was the guy to do it.”
The Panthers pounded out 12 hits against five different Sumner pitchers.
“For the past seven or eight games we’ve been swinging the bats well as a team,” Olson said. “I hope we can keep that going.”
Panthers hurler Cody Resser got the win after allowing just four runs in five innings of work.
“Cody is our co-captain. There’s nobody else on the team we trust more than him,” Olson said. “We’re glad the ball was in his hands in the middle for us. He did a great job. It’s always nice to know that we have enough arms to keep us in these kinds of games.”
Sumner head coach John Welker said the loss effectively eliminated the Spartans from playoff contention.
“We have three games left and we’re going to have to play spoiler,” Welker said. “But I’m not disappointed with how our season has turned out. This is the first time in a while where in this late part of the season we still had a chance at going to the postseason. It’s the first time we’ve been at this point in three or four years. That’s a good feeling and bodes well for the future of the program.”
Welker said his pitching staff made the mistake of throwing Bonney Lake fastballs in situations where they shouldn’t have.
“We have to throw strikes, but our biggest mistake was serving it up to them when the count was 0-2. Bonney Lake was hammering the ball.”