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Maxwell’s James Bowen tags out Hayfork’s Jonny Costellanos at second base during the final inning of the nightcap of a doubleheader held at Maxwell on Friday. Maxwell won both games, 6-4 and 9-3.
Ana Pimsler/Appeal-Democrat
Maxwell’s Steven Perry pitches against Hayfork Friday. Maxwell won two games in a doubleheader at home.
Ana Pimsler/Appeal-Democrat
Panthers maxing out
Maxwell sweeps Hayfork, wins North Valley championship
With an eye toward the postseason, the Maxwell High baseball team took care of business Friday afternoon, dispatching visiting Hayfork in a North Valley League doubleheader, 6-4 and 9-3.
With the win, the Panthers (24-3, 8-0) finish league play unbeaten for the third straight season, while also claiming the league title. More importantly, Maxwell is primed for a long run in the playoffs, again.
"We should be the No. 1 seed," Maxwell coach Eric Lay said of the upcoming Northern Section Div. VI playoffs, which begin Friday.
The Panthers entered the Hayfork twinbill just percentage points ahead of Tulelake, but Lay believes the two wins over the Timberjacks will ensure Maxwell of receiving the top seed.
"We didn't want to have to make the long trip to Tulelake," if that team was awarded the No. 1 seed over Maxwell, Lay said.
Everything the Panthers have done the past month have been geared toward earning the No. 1 seed for the postseason.
"We haven't lost in the month of April," Lay said, pointing out the Panthers' last loss came in the Central Valley Tournament on March 27 against Shasta. Maxwell lost, 11-1. Since then the Panthers have won 14 straight.
"We just wanted to make it to April," Lay said. "We thought we might be able to run the table after that."
Maxwell will be gunning for its fourth Section championship in five years, and third in a row, after winning the Div. V crowns in 2005 and 2006 and the Div. VI title last season.
In Friday's five-inning opener, Gustavo Rangel scattered six hits, while striking out two and walking two. In the second game, starter Hunter Stillwell and reliever Steven Perry held the Timberjacks (3-17, 2-6) to five hits. Perry pitched four innings of relief, yielding just one hit and one walk, while striking out six.
"Steven's pretty legit," Lay said of Perry, who is only a freshman, adding he prefers to come on in relief rather than start the game.
"He likes to have the ball at the end of the game," Lay said.
"I like coming in when the pressure's on," Perry said, adding his back also has been hurting him so he's not able to go a full seven innings right now.
Perry relieved Stillwell in the fourth with a runner at first, no outs and Maxwell nursing a 3-2 lead. He proceeded to strike out the next three batters to get out of the inning.
Perry said his curveball was his best pitch, although he also admitted to throwing a mean fastball.
"I like to come inside with my curveball and knock batters back," Perry said. "I also like to throw the high heat."
Perry also contributes at the plate, Lay said, noting he is the second leading hitter on the team.
In the first game, Perry went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, while in the second game, he went 2-for-2 with two RBIs.
"I'm seeing the ball pretty good right now," Perry said, "right off the end of the bat."
In the first game, Perry led off the bottom of the first with a single and scored on Mitchell Barsotti's double to right center to tie the game.
Perry drove in two runs in the second with a double to left, as Maxwell opened a 5-3 lead. Rangel plated one run with a sacrifice fly to left and the last run came home on an error.
James Bowen also had two hits that game. The Panthers blew the second game open with five runs in the fifth for a 9-2 lead. Perry drove in the final run with a single to shallow left. Rangel doubled in one run with a smack up the middle, Bowen laced a run-scoring ground-rule double to right center, Dylan Dewit singled to center to score a run and a balk brought home the other run.
Perry was the only Panther with more than one hit in the second game. Andy Yang, Rangel and Bowen each had doubles.
"Actually that was one of our poorer hitting performances," Lay said, as the Panthers garnered six hits in the first game and 10 in the second. ""We were way out in front against those two lefties."
Southpaw Ryan Gonzalez went all five innings for Hayfork in the first game while Scott Harrison threw into the fifth inning in the second contest.
Contact sports reporter Richard Myers at 749-4714 or rmyers@appeal-democrat.com.
