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A trio of wins--one SWAL conference and two that earned a tournament title--gives first year Iowa-Grant baseball coach Travis Halverson a reason to feel good about his team.
"They are figuring it out," Halverson said. "Some of these guys didn't play last year and are doing pretty well shaking off the rust."
The Panthers started their run with a convincing 11-4 win over Fennimore that saw Luke Nowak get on a hitting and rbi tear. Nowak had a six rbi day with a grand slam home run and a two run double.
"The fences are short at Fennimore but Luke got it all," Halverson said.
Nowak had some help when it came to production at the plate. TJ Anderson and Cody Rider both finished the day 3x4 while Trent Milliken was 2x3. One of Rider's hits was a double and he drove in two runs.
Also picking up a hit for the Panthers were Colin Conner, Colin Fingerson, Acea Upmann, Eli Wienkes and Kyle Francis. Milliken, Fingerson and Wienkes all plated runs.
Isaac Anderson went five innings for the Panthers and earned the win. He sent back two via strikeouts and walked three. Fennimore managed seven hits off Anderson and scored four times with two of the runs earned.
Brett Coppernall came on for the last two innings and issued a trio of strikeouts.
"Isaac threw well," Halverson said. "We went to Brett so we could get him some work, too."
Saturday the Panthers crossed the border and faced a couple Illinois teams in the Galena tournament. When they went back to Wisconsin they brought with them the tournament championship.
Colin Conner knocked in two runs in the first with a sharp double and the Panthers got another run on an error for a 3-0 lead. They added a run in the third that held up for the win.
Cody Rider took the mound for the Panthers for 5 1/3 and tossed one-hit baseball. He fanned six and walked three.
Isaac Anderson closed it out with 1 2/3 innings of work. He fanned two and did not walk a batter. He gave up three hits.
Six different Panthers contributed a hit in the win. Conners and TJ Anderson both had doubles while Milliken, Nowak, Upmann and Isaac Anderson had singles.
Milliken was a threat on the bases with three steals.
Rider may have had the play of the game. With runners on second and third he fielded a ball in right field and gunned out the runner trying to score from second to end the game.
"Fulton has a good team and are baseball players," Halverson said. "It was a good win."
With his last real pitching performance in little league, Colin Conner went to the hill for the championship. He walked off it with a win and some relief help from TJ Anderson who helped nail it down.
Conner went five innings, surrendered three hits, fanned four and walked five. After the Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first Conner put goose eggs on the board. Galena added its last run in the sixth.
The Panthers jumped on the scoring train in the bottom of the first. TJ Anderson plated a pair with a double and Milliken drove in one with a single. Tanner Naeger added a two run double to the cause and another run scored on a passed ball to make it 6-1.
Rider swung the big bat for the game with a 3x4 outburst. He had singles in the first and fourth and a triple in the sixth.
Milliken was 2x4 with an rbi, TJ Anderson was 2x4 with a double and drove in a run. Naeger finished 2x3 with a double and two rbis. Conner doubled and drove in a run.
"We had a good day," Halverson said. "It was nice to see us hit the ball and find some pitching depth. We are the deepest we have been for awhile."