By Michael Lindsay
The Stone Memorial Panther baseball team wrapped up a historic 2023 regular season Tuesday afternoon as they defeated York Institute, 6-2.
Stone Memorial finished the regular season at 22-5 overall, good for the most wins in a season in program history.
“I love these boys and the heart they have,” said SMHS head baseball coach Trent Stokes. “It’s not a surprise to anybody inside the program that we had a really good regular season. We’re proud of these boys for the season they put together, but we’re not done. We’re looking to make some noise deep into the postseason. Hopefully, we play to our ability and are able to advance on.”
The Panthers finished second in District 7-3A behind defending Class 3A state champion Upperman as both teams now turn their attention to postseason play.
Tuesday’s win saw the Panthers take a 6-0 lead after 4 innings before York scored two in the top of the seventh.
“We came out and struck early,” Stokes said. “We were doing some different things to get ready for districts and playing with lineups a little bit. The guys came out and did exactly what they needed to do.”
Stone Memorial used four pitchers on Tuesday with Tayln Hurd picking up the win. Hurd threw 2 innings, giving up 1 hit and striking out one on 25 pitches.
Killian Diem, Nick Osmun and Drake Scarbrough also pitched in the victory.
“It’s tricky,” Stokes said. “You’re trying to get your guys dialed in, but you’re telling your starting pitcher you’re throwing him 45 pitches and that’s not what you’re doing in the regular season. That’s what we’ve got to get used to in district tournament play. You’re always managing arms and knowing who you’ve got next. It’s good to get them used to that and get the guys used to different positions.”
Stone Memorial scored 3 runs in the bottom of the first inning as a Colin Tiegs grounder scored Wade Wilson. Tiegs later scored via error before a Bryce Elmore single scored Nolan Wyatt to give the Panthers a 3-0 advantage.
Stone Memorial tacked on two runs in the bottom of the third as Osmun stole home before another Elmore single scored Diem to put the Panthers ahead 5-0.
An Osmun single in the bottom of the fourth drove in Tiegs to put the Panthers ahead 6-0 entering the fifth inning.
York Institute went down swinging as the Dragons scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning. Lee Kearns stole home before an Ethan Haley single scored Blaine York to make the score 6-2.
Osmun stopped the bleeding from there as he forced a groundout and struck out the final Dragon batter to seal the 6-2 victory.
Stone Memorial is in action next Friday evening in the District 7-3A tournament, opponent TBD.
