Panthers walk it off in extra inning thriller
KITCHENER - Eight home runs. Lead changes. High energy.
And in the end, AJ Karosas hit an RBI single in the 10th inning with the bases loaded to walk it off for the Kitchener Panthers, who beat Chatham-Kent 10-9 Thursday night at Jack Couch Park.
"It just shows you that this team's got something special about it when we can turn it over to a backup catcher and the bullpen to shut it down the way Brett (Reid) did today.," said Panthers field manager Pete Kiefer.
"To me, that was pretty special. And Dakota did his part. He's coming off an injury, didn't want to overuse him and he still went out there and got us the outs we needed."
They had to be big after Panthers ace Evan Elliott went down with an arm problem in the fifth inning. But not before he struck out eight Barnstormers, though he did give up seven runs on eight hits.
The Panthers pitching staff combined for 17 strikeouts, and stranded 13 Chatham players on base.
"I'm very excited about what happened cause that hasn't been happening most of the year," Kiefer said. "Now I think we're about to turn it around, we're getting our bullpen to contribute, and everyone, guys that were cold are now getting hot. Things are looking pretty good right now."
He also pointed out the team worked well with backup catcher Ayad Ansari starting the game, giving all-star Yunior Ibarra the night off.
Switch pitcher Mizuki Akatsuka went seven innings in the loss, getting tagged for eight runs on nine hits. He fanned seven Panthers.
Garret Day took the loss after blowing the save in the ninth with the visitors up by one.
Kitchener trailed 5-1 at one point, but the bats were mighty throughout.
Mateo Zeppieri, Yosvani Penalver, Charlie Towers, Runta Osawa and Karosas all hit home runs for Kitchener.
"That was fun to watch," Kiefer said.
Spencer Marcus had a pair of homers for the visitors in the loss, and Yushin Ohta also went yard.
Kitchener has won two straight and head on the road for two games this weekend. First up, the league-leading Jackfish in Welland Friday night, then to Barrie Saturday late afternoon.
Following that, the Panthers all-stars head to Hamilton on Sunday.
The next Panthers home game isn't until Sunday, July 27 at 2 p.m. against the Guelph Royals.
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