After a tough loss to Statesboro on Monday, the Long County Blue Tide baseball team bounced back on Wednesday, March 24 as they dominated the Liberty County Panthers 11-0. The team celebrated its five seniors before the game in one of their final non-region games of the season.
The five seniors honored before the game were TJ Criswell, Noah Kuhaneck, Blake Mosley, Trevor Ray, and Ethan Wells.
Freshman Landon Runyon took the mound and continued to show off his pitching prowess. He threw two impressive strikeouts, while junior Jacob Struble made an amazing diving catching for the third out in right field.
The Tide took to the plate as Criswell got on second with a stand-up double. Struble batted him around on an RBI single off an impressive bunt to give the Tide a 1-0 lead going into the second inning.
The Panthers were able to get a couple runners on base due to a walk and a hit, but could not put any runs on the board. The Tide came up to the plate again as Joseph Cammack got on base after being hit by a pitch and Ray batted him home on a single to put the Tide up 2-0.
The Tide were able to get two more runners on base, but they could not add any more runs in the inning.
Once again the Panthers could not record any runs on the board as the Tide continued to shut down anything Liberty County tried to get going.
The Panthers then started to fall apart defensively as Dwayne Rowe was able to reach first on strikeouts after a high throw by the catcher and Rowe moved to second base.
Six of the next seven Tide batters either were walked or hit by pitches, which lead to two Tide runs on the board. The Tide added two more runs on Panther errors as they led 6-0 going into the fourth inning.
Runyon allowed one hit and hit a batter in the fourth, but also struck out three Panther batters looking and ended his day on the mound with six strikeouts and only three hits allowed.
The Tide got their bats going in the fourth inning again. Struble came up and crushed a ball to the centerfield wall and was able to get all the way around the bases and beat the throw home to record an inside-the-park home run.
Kuhaneck was hit by a pitch and Cammack walked to set up Ray with an opportunity to bring home two more runs. He did just that with a double to bring them home to give the Tide a 9-0 lead.
Cole Moss walked, Blake Holland reached on an error, and Criswell walked. The Tide added a run on an error as Seth Struble took to the plate with two on and two outs.
Struble roped a single and scored a run to give the Tide an 11-0 lead. The Tide did not allow the Panthers to get anything going at the plate as the Tide moved on to the win.
Jacob Struble had a great day from the plate, going 2-3 with an RBI and an inside-the-park home run. Ray went 2-2 from the plate with three RBIs, while Seth Struble added an RBI in the fourth inning.
The Tide are now 7-5 on the season and look to end the non-region schedule on Thursday, March 25 against the Statesboro Blue Devils, who defeated the Tide Monday 7-1.