Petal holds on for 9-5 win over Gulfport to send even second-round playoff series

The Panthers (18-13) got things going early with three runs in the bottom of the first inning

PETAL – It was business as usual for Petal.

As has been the case for most of the last six weeks, the Panthers found themselves with their backs to the wall, first fighting to get into the Class 6A playoffs, then to survive in the playoffs once they got there.

For the second series in a row, Petal answered the bell down a game, defeating Gulfport 9-5 Saturday night at Panther Field in Game 2 of the second-round series and keeping their season alive.

The Panthers improved to 18-13 overall, while the Admirals dropped to 20-9. The deciding third game in the series will be at 7 p.m. Monday at Gulfport.

The big picture: Check out the MHSAA 6A Baseball Brackets here

“We came in knowing we were going to win,” said Petal senior Blake King. “After taking the loss (Friday) night, we had a little chip on our shoulders.”

Petal coach Jake Mills liked the win, though he wasn’t crazy about the way it came about, as the Panthers won despite giving up eight walks and hitting three batters.

“In the playoffs, a win’s a win; we really don’t care what they look like,” said Mills. “But we made some big pitches and some big plays when we needed to.

“If you look at last night’s game, we didn’t minimize. Tonight, instead of the threes and fives we gave up last night, it was one or two that we gave up when they had a rally. That was huge for us.”

Still, Petal came to Saturday’s game with the right attitude, and immediately went to work, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning off Admiral left-hander Tate Cuevas.

Junior Blake Roberts led off with an infield single and took third on a single from senior Keegan Giger. Cuevas got a strikeout, but King smacked a 3-2 pitch for a seeing-eye single up the middle to drive in two runs. Senior Cayne Hensarling followed with a run-scoring sacrifice fly.

“You lose that first game, then you’re looking at your last game if you’re a senior,” said King. “You’ve got bounce back and hit the ball hard.

“First-pitch slider, I was just trying to get it in and I just missed it. Then he threw me three straight balls before a called strike. I knew I had to shorten up and put it in play and hope their defense scatters out a little bit.”

In all, Cuevas threw 38 pitches in the first inning, and he was unable to recover, throwing 90 for his 3 1/3 innings of work.

“It got him down early, with his pitch count so high after the first inning,” said McMahon. “In the second and third, he was better. He’s usually a four of five-inning guy, but with that many pitches in the first inning, that hurt him.

Panther senior Gage Hinnant struggled with his control at times, but was able to limit the resulting damage, as the Admirals stranded 13 baserunners.

More: Full Mississippi Saturday night baseball scoreboard

Hinnant allowed two runners on with one out in the first, then got a pair of flyballs. A potential second-inning rally was cut short by a double play, and another double play in the third got Petal out of a bases-loaded jam.

“You look at what Gage did last week, it’s hard to do that two games in a row, especially against a team like Gulfport,” said Mills. “You look at the walks, that’s very uncharacteristic of us. You give up free bases and sooner or later it’s going to hurt you.

“You can say, we put ourselves in some situations and we had to get ourselves out of some situations.”

However, Gulfport’s Dawson Hall delivered a two-run single to narrow Petal’s margin to 3-2 prior to the inning-ending double play.

And the Panthers got one of those runs right back in the bottom of the third, the first of four runs Petal would score in the next two innings without getting a hit in either inning.

Senior Jayden Mark and King drew walks to open the inning and they were moved over on a sacrifice by junior Jeremiah McKinney.

Senior Will Raborn hit a dribbler up the first base line, and Hall at first chose to go home with the throw. However, senior Eli Carroll, in as a courtesy runner for Mark, slid under the tag at the plate to score the run on the fielder’s choice.

“Offensively, we did what we like to do,” said Mills. “The last few weeks we’ve done an especially good job of barreling balls up and seeing pitches and it was enough to win tonight.”

Gulfport tied the game in the top of the fourth, chasing Hinnant in the process. With one out, Charlie Olsen drew a walk and went to third on a single by Ethan Garner. Ethan Suroweic ripped a single into left to drive in a run, and another walk loaded the bases.

That’s when Mills turned to the bullpen for junior left-hander Davis Knight, who conceded a game-tying sacrifice fly from Caiden Rosetti, but a groundout quelled the threat.

“I was just trying to fill it up and throw strikes, keep runners off base and get outs,” said Knight (1-0). “I knew it was a big situation; I just I to do what I could to win the game.”

The Panthers rewarded their pitcher with the decisive rally in the bottom of the fourth. Petal scores three runs on two walks, two hit batters, the second of which drove in a run, and a botched fielder’s choice that allowed two runs to score.

In fact, Admiral pitchers Cuevas and reliever Joel Smith gave up six walks and four hit batters.

“That was it 100 percent,” said McMahon. “But they did a good job when they got guys on of putting us in some pressure situations to get those runs. So, we gave them some runs, but that’s just playoff baseball. They did a good job of taking those runs.”

Knight allowed runners to reach third base in both the fifth and sixth innings, and the Admirals were able to get a run home in the sixth, on a walk, a steal and a single that produced a run thanks to a throwing error.

But Knight got out of it with only the one run scoring, and the Panthers gave senior Cayde Hensarling two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.

“When I got runners on, it was my own fault, so I knew I had to bear down,” said Knight. “It was just a matter of concentrating and throwing strikes.”

Mark was hit by a pitch to open the inning, and a sacrifice and a passed ball put a runner on third. McKinney singled in a run, and he scored from first on a double to right-centerfield from Raborn.

Hensarling gave up a hit batter, a walk and a single to load the bases with two out, but an eight-pitch battle with junior Jacob Palazzo ended in a ground ball for the final out of the game.

Last week, the Panthers went on the road and won at Ocean Springs in the third game of the first round, and as they did last week, they’ll turn to junior right-hander Eli Waters to get the win on the road in the second round.

“You go back to last week, same situation,” said Mills. “We’ve got plenty of good arms left and we’ve got some arms coming back who threw last night. We’ll be all-hands-on-deck, and we’ll need that against a very good Gulfport team.”

McMahon said he wasn’t sure who he would start against Petal on Monday, but he likes the options he has available.

“We’ve got four guys that I’m comfortable going with,” said McMahon. “So, I’m not panicked about who I’m going to start.

“We told our kids to just flush this and get ready for Monday. We’ve been playing three-game series in our division, so we’re ready for it.”