Scott City baseball makes it nine consecutive wins with a doubleheader sweep

Big innings were the story on Saturday for the Scott City Rams.

The Rams (13-1) hosted Campbell and Senath-Hornersville for a doubleheader on Saturday where Scott City walked away with a pair of wins.

__Scott City 12, Campbell 2__

In game one of the doubleheader the Rams battled Campbell and after a shutdown inning in the top of the first inning by Kaden Lowery, their bats went to work.

Mark Panagos began the bottom half with a leadoff single and he was promptly cashed in on an inside-the-park home run by Lane Holder to give the Rams a 2-0 lead.

“Something we’ve been good at this year is scoring runs early,” Scott City coach Skylar Cobb said. “Those early runs are huge. It’s huge for our pitchers because they can go out there and feel more confident.”

A pair of singles by Luke Umfleet and Lane Miller set the stage for Jackson Gloth as he singled home Umfleet to push the Rams’ lead to 3-0 with just one out in the first.

Following a walk to Gavin Venable, Kaden Lowery dug into the box with a chance to help himself.

And help himself he did as the freshman singled home a pair of runs to increase the Scott City lead to 5-0.

“It’s contagious,” Cobb said. “We’ve got a lively group and they like to be loud so it helps us with our injury. Getting off to those early starts really fuels us for the rest of the game.”

With a 5-0 lead in his back pocket, Lowery went back to work on the mound in the second and made quick work of the Camels, striking out the side in order and getting a hot offense back in the dugout.

“Anytime you score you really want your pitcher and defense to go out and get a shutdown inning,” Cobb said. “It’s a big deal to not go out there and let the opposition chip away at the lead.”

Despite having two outs in the inning already, Gloth would drive in a run on an error, Umfleet would score on a wild pitch and Lowery doubled home a pair to make it 9-0 Rams after two innings.

Lowery bent but didn’t break in the top of the third as the Camels scratched across a pair of runs to make it 9-2 Rams.

“(Lowery) didn’t get to pitch much in the first couple of weeks,” Cobb said. “He threw a couple of innings in relief last week and he did great. Yesterday he got to start and we were really excited to see him on the mound. He did a great job in the third of bearing down and minimizing the damage.”

After the two-run third inning, Lowery gave way to Jackson Gloth on the mound, ending his day.

Lowery threw three innings allowing two runs on two hits while striking out seven.

Gloth tossed the final three innings in the win as the Rams run-ruled the Camels in the bottom of the sixth after Venable drove in a run in a groundout and Lawson Graff scored on a passed ball to win it.

Leading the Rams offensively in game one of the doubleheader was Kaden Lowery who went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI in the win.

__Scott City 9, Senath-Hornersville 1__

Much like game one, early runs and a big inning proved to be the difference in a 9-1 win for the Rams over the Lions.

Mark Panagos scored on an error in the top of the first to give the Rams a 1-0 lead after one.

Panagos singled home a run in an inning later to make it 2-0 Scott City.

Getting the start in game two for the Rams was Kobe Watson who went five innings, allowing no runs on two hits while punching out six in the win.

The big inning for the Rams came in the top of the third as the inning began with a leadoff single by Watson.

Lane Miller scored Watson on a sacrifice fly for the second out of the inning as the Rams’ lead increased to 3-0.

Following a hit-by-pitch to Jackson Gloth, Levi Senn scored Gloth with a two-out triple.

Senn was then cashed in with a double by Gavin Venable to push the Rams’ lead to 5-0.

With damage already done, Kaden Lowery stepped in and tripled home Venable to give Scott City a commanding 6-0 lead.

The Rams scored three more runs in the top of the seventh while the Lions scratched across their only run of the game in the bottom of the seventh as the Rams won it 9-1.

Following up Watson’s five-inning outing on the mound, Blake Wilburn threw the final two innings, allowing just one run on one hit.

Offensively, game two saw the Rams led by Watson who went 4-for-5 with a RBI and Gavin Venable who went 4-for-4 with a RBI and two runs scored.

Scott City (13-1) returns to action at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9, when the Rams host Bernie at Scott City High School.

“We can’t be alright with where we’re at,” Cobb said. “We’ve got to keep doing the little things that have gotten us to this point and we have to keep getting better. We know that Bernie is a good team. They’re state-ranked in class 2 and they’re a great program who we’ve had some close games with over the years.”