DANVILLE, Ill. – No. 5 Parkland baseball split a doubleheader at Danville Area on Friday evening, taking a 6-5 victory in a nine-inning game one before dropping a seven-inning game two by a score of 5-4. Game one starter
Ty Rybarczyk improved to 7-0 on the season, while first baseman
Damian Pierce went 4-for-4 in the victory.
In game one, Parkland used a four-run fifth inning to support 6.2 innings of work from starting pitcher
Ty Rybarczyk who improved to 7-0 on the season with five strikeouts and no walks. Pounding out 13 hits, the Cobra offense was led by first baseman
Damian Pierce who had four hits, two of which went for doubles, two runs and an RBI, while catcher Robert Barnart led the team with two RBI.
The Cobras, again, held the lead for most of the game in the night cap, but a three-run sixth inning by Danville Area earned the host Jaguars the doubleheader split. Parkland put the tying run on third base with two out in the seventh, but were unable to drive in the winning run. Starter Keegan McHood pitched six innings, striking out six, but took the loss. Dan Warkentin led the offense, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.
Up next, the Cobras and Jaguars will conclude the four-game series with a pair of seven-inning games on Sunday, April 28 at 1 p.m. central time in Champaign.
Game 1: No. 5 Parkland 6, Danville Area 5
After the first five Cobra batters of the game were retired, Dan Warkentin put the Cobras out in front in the top of the second inning with a two-out solo shot to right field. The opposite-field homer was Warkentin's fifth of the season.
The Jaguars tied the game in the second inning with a two-out RBI of their own. After a two-out triple put a runner at third, Danville Area singled home the run, tying the game.
With both starters stranding base runners, the game entered the sixth inning still tied, 1-1, when the Cobras busted out with four runs. With
Trevor Minder on first with one out following a leadoff walk,
Alex Steinbach tripled to right field to drive in the go-ahead run. After the second out of the inning, Parkland strung together a two-out rally with two singles and a double.
Damian Pierce singled home
Alex Steinbach,
Corey Price chased Steinbach around with a double and then scored on a
Robert Barnard single.
Danville Area climbed back into the game, cutting the Parkland lead to 5-4, with a run in the sixth and two more in the sixth. The two sides traded runs in the eighth, the Cobras scoring on a one-out double by Barnard.
Leading 6-5 in the ninth, the Jaguars put the tying run on base, but reliever
Ricky Castro completed his second inning of work with a ground out to end the game. Castro recorded the final eight outs, going 2.2 innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out one.
Game 2: No. 5 Parkland 4, Danville Area 5
The same as in game one, Warkentin put Parkland on top in the second inning, this time singling home Steinbach after the Cobra third baseman led off the inning with a triple. The 1-0 lead would hold up until the bottom of the third when a Danville two-out single plated the tying run.
Six of the first seven Cobras to come to the plate reached to start the fourth, putting three runs on the board in their half of the inning.
Jeremiah Lebron led off with a single, and then advanced to third on a Warkentin double. A walk by Pierce loaded the bases, setting up a go-ahead hit-by-pitch of Price. Bases-loaded walks to Barnard and
Trevor Burkhart added two more runs, giving the Cobras a three-run lead.
McHood tossed a three-up, three-down bottom half of the fourth, but Danville got the Cobra starter in the fifth and sixth innings to take their first lead of the series. A Cobra error with two outs allowed the run in the fifth to score, and then a bases-loaded triple with two outs in the sixth gave the Jaguars the lead.
The Cobras put the tying run in scoring position in the top of the seventh when Warkentin hit his second double of the game. Pinch runner
Mike Hampton reached third on a wild pitch, but the Jaguars got a strike out to close out the game.
