HILLSBORO: Baseball squad drops two to Panthers
4-3, 5-2 losses to Nickerson leave Trojans on three-game skid
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Losing three straight games to Class 4A opponents is by no means a step backward for the Trojan baseball team.
Especially when one of them happens to be the defending state champions.
And Nickerson has the tools to repeat. Hillsboro faced them Tuesday night.
That was one of the main reasons Trojan coach Phil Oelke didn't seem too upset about his team tumbling to the Panthers.
"We're coming along," he said. "Last week we lost 5-4 to a 4A all-state pitcher, tonight we lose a one-run game to another all-state pitcher.
"The second game, the kid isn't quite as good, but he's got a knuckleball that's right from two feet, but that's high school baseball. We're not going to come out here and play error-free baseball.
"This is good for us. This is what's going to prepare us for regionals."
Errors cost the Trojans Tuesday as the Panthers got a boost from a trio of them in the opener to clip Hillsboro, 4-3.
A hitting slump by the Trojans was the biggest enemy in the nightcap with Panther starter Heath Gerstner and closer Noah Krol limiting Hillsboro to six hits in a 5-2 loss.
Mixed with a 4-3 loss a week earlier in the finale against hosting Haven, the Trojans are currently on a three-game slide after a 5-0 start.
Hillsboro falls to 5-3 on the season.
The Trojans have plenty of reasons to smile as it could be smooth sailing until regionals.
Eight games into the year, Oelke has yet to believe his team has reached its full potential hitting.
That's partially because the Trojans had yet to face, and likely won't face again, a pitching rotation quite as solid as the Panthers'.
The Trojans jumped to a 1-0 lead in the opener off a Shawn Hughbanks' double in the bottom of the first.
After that, starter Tyson Bauerle held Hillsboro to just two of its seven hits until the bottom of the sixth.
Jerod Metcalf held the Panthers scoreless for four innings.
But once the Panthers got rolling in the fifth, it was enough to put Hillsboro down for the count.
Brandon Meyers threw the first punch, taking an 0-1 pitch deep for a three-run blast that left Hillsboro in the Panthers' rear view mirror.
An RBI double capped off the fatal fifth inning, and the Trojans stayed down.
Hillsboro still mounted a comeback in the bottom of the sixth with James Bina getting on board with a double.
Kris Jones cut the lead to 4-3 with a two-run homer over the left-field fence.
The Panthers managed a hit in the top of the seventh before Krol came in to close it out.
Posting pitches with top speeds of 87 and 88 miles per hour, Krol fanned two Trojans en route to saving the game for Nickerson. It was deja vu all over again for Hillsboro in the nightcap.
This time, it was the top of the sixth and seventh innings that left the Trojans in a rut.
Cold hitting wasn't the only thing working against them, either.
They ended up leaving the bases loaded in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings.
The game got off to a rocky start with Dustin Jost on the mound and the bases loaded.
A hit batter gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead before a catch in right field by Steve Chisholm helped the Trojans elude a potentially catastrophic second inning.
By the time Jared Fish got the Trojans' first hit of the game in the bottom of the third, Nickerson was up 2-0.
A terror on the basepaths, Jones swiped second base to leave himself in scoring position for Jost.
Jost grounded out to short, but he cut the lead in two as Jones scored.
The Trojans missed one of three golden opportunities to take the lead in the fourth with Jones at the plate and one out.
Hillsboro couldn't pick up a hit, and Nickerson went up 3-1 with Chisholm giving up a two-out bases-loaded single in the top of the sixth.
The seventh inning proved to be pivotal for the Panthers.
A wild throw to first base scored one run before Metcalf reentered.
Three hits left the Trojans in a huge 5-1 hole and down to their last three outs.
Jost keep the hopes of staving off a sweep alive, ripping a shot to cut the lead to 5-2 with one out.
Krol ran into trouble as he loaded up the bases for Graham Ratzlaff, who represented the winning run.
Already with a pair of escape acts, Krol went for the hat trick, fanning both Ratzlaff and Metcalf to leave the bases loaded.
"We're not playing bad ball," Oelke said. "We're making some mental mistakes and some unforced errors on defense, but flip that around and look at the defensive plays we're making.
"What we need to do now, we've made it to the corner, now we've got to get around the corner."
On deck for the Trojans are a pair of road games beginning Tuesday against a struggling host Moundridge Wildcats and concluding May 2 at archrival Wichita Collegiate. Game time is 4:30 p.m.
