PV bounces back to rout Wreckers

A frigid and disappointing Monday had no leftover effect on Panther Valley.

All you need to do is take a look at the way it pounced all over Weatherly en route to a six-inning, 12-2, Schuylkill League Division 3 baseball victory on Tuesday.

The Panthers rattled off 14 hits, including four doubles and a triple. Tristan Blasko’s three-hit, two-RBI day led the way. Winning pitcher Mark Kokinda slapped out two singles and had the game’s biggest blow - a triple. Also contributing was Zack Kindt, who had a single and a double.

“We were much better in all phases of the game today,” said Panther Valley coach Rich Evanko, as he watched his team garner its first league win and break a two-game losing streak in the process. “Monday against Marian, we gave that one away. We didn’t make plays in the field, and left runners on base.

“Today we hit better, we executed in all phases of the game, much, much better.”

That showed right from the start as the Panthers strolled to a 3-0 first-inning lead, getting a big lift from Brad Buzzard, who drove in two of his three runs with a double.

Panther Valley erupted with four more runs in the third, sending eight batters to the plate.

Jon Hafer, Wyatt Zimmerman, Blasko and Kindt were the rallying force, each with a single that pushed the Panthers in front 7-0.

Weatherly got single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. In the top of the fourth, a Gary Buck single and a pair of PV errors produced a run. In the fifth, AJ Knepper, Kevin Osifat and Steph Yurchak all had hits to plate a run.

“We’re a long way off from being competitive right now,” said Weatherly manager Mike Baran. “It was only our second game. We haven’t practiced very much outside and it showed. But it’s not the end of the world. We’re going to get much better once we get outside more.”

Panther Valley (3-2, 1-2) put the clamps on the victory, ending it on the 10-run rule with four runs in the home sixth. The two big hits in the inning were doubles from Justin Ogozalek and Blasko.

“Now let’s see what we can do from here on in,” said Evanko. “We got this win. We showed some bounce-back after the loss on Monday and that’s encouraging.”

OFF THE CUFF… Besides the aforementioned hitters for the Panthers, Mason Goida and Ronnie Distler each added singles. Osifat led the Wreckers with two singles, while Yurchak had a double for his team’s only extra-base hit. Buck and Knepper each added singles.

SHIVERING… It was still not baseball weather. Fans were bundled more like a late November football game than a mid-April baseball game.

SOLID OUTING… Kokinda went 4 2/3 innings, allowing only five hits, striking out three and walking four.

Weatherly 000 110 - 2 5 2

Panther Vy. 304 14 - 12 14 2

Buck, Moon (3), Gerhart (5), Polanco (5) and Osifat; Kokinda, Sheridan (5) and Taras. W - Kokinda. L - Buck.