By MATT KOPSEA

South Bend Tribune

 

Alex Kohler lived a charmed life Tuesday afternoon.

Despite allowing five hits and three walks, Kohler still managed to toss four shutout innings, helping Washington on its way to an 11-6 victory over visting Glenn in high school baseball action at Redling Field.

The junior left-hander worked his magic with the help of five strikeouts, two pickoffs, and an inning-ending double play as the Panthers (3-1) built what appeared to be a comfortable 8-0 cushion after five innings.

“Alex has been around and pitched for a long time, so nothing is going to bother him,” said Washington coach John Kehoe. “It's nice to have someone out there with experience that's been through this before instead of a freshman or sophomore that hasn't. He had his share of trouble, but the nice thing is he buckled down pitched himself out of trouble when he needed to.”

While Kohler (2-0) took care of business on the mound, Grant Niezgodski put both his trusty bat and right arm to good use.

The senior outfielder provided the offensive punch with three hits and four RBIs and also threw a runner out at home plate.

Niezgodski's three-run home run off of Glenn starter Sean Liedtke (0-1) capped a four-run third inning outburst.

His throw from center field in the fourth inning cut down Chad King trying to score from third base to keep the shutout intact for the time being.

Limited to just one hit in Monday's loss to LaPorte, one swing of the bat seemed to change things around as Aaron Cielsielski's one-out double in the third inning got the ball rolling for the Panthers.

Pat Borlik got into the act with a two-run homer in the fifth inning as Washington sent 10 batters to the plate and tallied four runs.

“In my mind, I thought Aaron's double off the fence was the biggest hit of the game,” Kehoe said. “Up until then, no one was doing anything at the plate. That one pitch and one at bat changed the whole complexion of the game. “

Things finally started looking up for the Falcons (1-1) in the sixth inning as they took advantage of five walks, a hit batter, and three hits to score six times.

Glenn actually had the go-ahead run on base before Cody Tharp fanned Jonathan Stewart to end the threat.

The Panthers answered back with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame to once again regain the momentum.

“Our inability to throw strikes in that (sixth) inning allowed them to get back in the game,” Kehoe said.

Making his first varsity start, the junior right-hander Liedtky allowed eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits with three strikeouts and two walks over 4 1/3 innings.

“I think this might have been a little different game if we had scored a few runs in those early innings,” said Glenn coach John Nadolny. “We ran ourselves out of the first inning and then couldn't make good contact when we loaded the bases in the second and third inning.”

Cody Singleton, Pat Langel, and Tommy Knape had two hits apiece for the Falcons, who left 13 runners on base.

“The positive thing to take out of this game is we put runners on base and kept battling,” Nadolny added. “If we could have just come up with one hit in that (sixth) inning, who knows how things might have turned out.”

Borlik and Malcolm White drove in two runs apiece and Kohler chipped in two hits for the Panthers.

 

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