Published: June 30, 2009 11:11 pm      

North closes out Panthers

The Edmond North baseball team closed out their summer regular season in style. The Huskies held off a late push by Putnam City North Red for a two-game sweep Tuesday night at North High School.

“We should do what we did against them,” North coach Jon Hunter said. “It wasn’t real pretty, we didn’t play our best by any means, but give (PC North) credit, they stayed in there and battled. They could have folded up, but they came back and tried to make it a game.”

The Huskies used a big fifth inning rally to put away the Panthers in the opener. North had just a two-run lead heading into the fifth inning, but scored six runs on two hits in the bottom of the inning for a 10-2 win.

Colton Byford got the win for the Huskies. The senior gave up two runs in four innings, before giving way to Quint Reynolds.

PC North took an early 2-0 lead, only to see the Huskies regain control with four runs in the second inning.

The Huskies then closed out the win with a six-run fifth. Kelby Reneau made it a 5-2 game when he scored McNeill with a double to left. Jack Ryan followed that up with a two-run double, giving the Huskies a 7-2 advantage. North then put the game away in when Sam Roberts grounded into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded. The Panthers got Ryan with a force out at home, but a throwing error allowed all three runners to score for the run-rule win.

In the second game, North avoided a collapse as they held off the Panthers for a 14-6 win. The Huskies opened an 11-0 lead only to see the PC North bounce back with a six-run rally in the fourth. McNeill later helped the Huskies close out the game with an RBI triple in the fifth.

“That’s kind of what we do, we let teams back in it and then shut the door later and that’s what we did tonight,” Hunter said. “Hopefully we’ll get that rectified before this summer is over.”

McNeill led the way for the Huskies with a 3-for-3 showing at the plate with three RBI and two triples. Carter was 3-for-4 with 2 RBI, Reid Pepper went 2-for-2 with a walk and two RBI and Nick Verdea was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Carter got the win for North in the nightcap. The senior threw three scoreless innings, before getting into trouble in the fourth. Reynolds closed out the night with a 1-2-3 fifth inning.

The Huskies jumped on top early in the second game. McNeill drove in the first run of the night with a single to right. North then scored two more off wild pitches, making it a 3-0 game.

North got after it again in the third, scoring eight more runs. Ryan and Carter each drove in a pair of runs and McNeill scored another with an RBI triple.

PC North avoided the shut out with a big two-out rally in the fourth. Mitchell Jackson and Brooks Walker each drove in a pair, as they narrowed the gap to five runs.

North also picked up a couple of big wins over the weekend. The Huskies climbed out of an early four-run hole and beat Memorial 12-4, before winning 11-3 over Santa Fe.

The Huskies will return to action next week for the Pure Prairie League regional and state tournaments.