Jayden Eickhoff of Fairbanks follows through with a pitch during a ball game against Ohio Heritage Conference rival West Jefferson. Eickhoff tallied three strikeouts during the 7-2 loss.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
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The Panthers of Fairbanks were on course to catch lightning in a bottle Monday against West Jefferson.
The Rough Riders, though, are not the No. 1 team in Division III for the Central district for no reason.
The Panthers kept West Jeff off the scoreboard through three innings, but one swing of the bat in the fourth changed all that for Fairbanks in a 7-2 loss.
Jayden Eickhoff got the call to take the hill for FHS to start the game. He was able to get the Rough Rider hitters to ground the ball to get out of the inning.
He followed with a couple of strikeouts in the second to keep the game up in the air.
“Jayden did a nice job,” said Fairbanks head coach Josh Rine. “He did what he has done for the last two years. Every game he pitches he throws strikes.
“He doesn’t walk people and he makes them earn it,” said Rine. “He isn’t going to overpower anybody, but he is a smart pitcher and he is going to keep them on their toes. He did a good job today.”
The Panthers were able to strike first in the second inning when lead-off hitter Mason Cushmen found the grass with a shot between the third basemen and shortstop.
Cushmen swiped second and a wild pitch advanced him to third base.
Wes Pyers stepped to the plate with two outs and ripped the ball to shallow right for an RBI single and 1-0 lead.
Eickhoff continued to throw the ball low in the strike zone. The Panther defense kept it in front of them as Fairbanks set the side down in order.
Everything changed, however, for the Panthers in the top of the fourth.
The Rough Riders got a lead-off hit before a fielder’s choice notched the first out .
A couple of hits and an error loaded the bases for West Jefferson.
The tide of the game changed with one swing of the bat as West Jefferson tallied four runs on a grand slam to put the game at 4-1 after four innings.
“We played well defensively and if that grand slam happened to be a pop-up, it could be a different game,” said Rine.
The Panthers pushed across another run in sixth inning.
James Yoder singled up the middle to lead off for the Panthers.
A few wild pitches later, Yoder found himself on third.
Cushmen got his second hit of the day with another shot down the left side of the field. That scored Yoder to close the gap to 4-2 after six innings.
Rine called on Weston Lorenz to take the mound for Fairbanks. He gave up a lead-off hit to West Jefferson, but battled back for a strike out.
The Rough Riders were able to find a groove where they batted in several runners before Lorenz coaxed the third out on pop fly to right field.
The Panthers had no answer for those runs as they slipped to 14-7.
Despite the loss, Rine said he was happy with Fairbanks’ performance.
“They (West Jefferson) are a team that is tough to beat, but we battled,” he said. “I was proud of our guys. We didn’t chase a bunch of bad pitches.”
Fairbanks will go on the road today to take on another OHC team in West Liberty.
WJ 0 0 0 4 0 0 3 7 10 1
FHS 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 6 2
WP- Gray, 5 2/3 IP
LP- Eickhoff, 6 1/3 IP