Union Co. baseball drops pair to Social Circle

The Union Co. baseball team had a tough time Monday, March 9, in a doubleheader against region-foe Social Circle in Blairsville.

The Panthers (4-7, 1-3 Region 8-AA) lost game one 8-2 before dropping the nightcap 10-5 to the Redskins (3-6, 2-2).

Social Circle scored early and often against the Panthers in the first baseball game. The Redskins plated five in the first, one in the second, and two in the third and held a 8-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Union Co. finally got on the board in the bottom half of the sixth, thanks to a pair of RBIs from Carter Wright and Cayden Rich.

Wright, a senior, put Union Co. on the board with a sacrifice fly to center field with one out that scored fellow senior John Mancuso.

Rich, also a senior, drove in the Panthers’ second run of the day with an 0-1 count and two outs. He smacked a line drive to right field that scored junior Isaak Mullinack, but that was all the damage the Panthers could do in the inning to leave the tally at the final score of 8-2.

Mancuso finished the game 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, while Rich finished 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Junior Damien Chitwood and senior Alec Youngblood each added a hit in the loss for the Panthers.

Game two was much the same as the first, as the Redskins scored eight unanswered runs through the first four-and-a-half innings before the Panthers could answer in the bottom of the fifth.

Trialing 8-0, Union Co. managed to cut the lead in half with four runs in the bottom of the frame.

After Youngblood doubled to left field to start the inning, senior Matthew Kelley drew a one-out walk to put two on base.

Mancuso hit a ground ball to third with a full count, and an error by the Social Circle third baseman allowed him to reach and Youngblood to score from second base for the Panthers first run of the game.

After an infield pop-out to second base by Mullinack, Wright singled with a line drive to center field that scored Kelley.

Junior Hunter Loyd smacked a ground ball to third and reached base on an error to give the Panthers bases loaded with two outs.

On the next at-bat, junior Zeke Swartz drove the first baseball he saw into left field. The single scored Mancuso and Wright and cut the lead to 8-4.

After holding Social Circle scoreless in the top of the sixth, Union Co. managed to score another run in the bottom of the frame thanks to an RBI ground out from Mullinack that scored Kelley with two outs that cut the lead to 8-5.

The Redskins scored twice in the top of the seventh to put them up 10-5 and the Panthers couldn’t rally in the bottom of the inning to end the game.

Wright went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in game two, while Youngblood went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.

Mullinack added a hit and an RBI, Swartz had a hit and two RBIs, while Chitwood and junior JJ Little each tallied a hit in the loss.

The Panthers are set to take on Gilmer at. 5 p.m. today, Tuesday, March 10, before heading to Monticello for a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m., Friday, March 13.