Photo by Dwayne Black: Tracy-Milroy-Balaton’s Eathan Martinez beats a throw at home plate for a run during a baseball game against Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in Ruthton on Friday night. The Panthers defeated the Knights 20-17.

RUTHTON —  In a wild back-and-forth baseball game with runs scored in bunches, the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton Panthers traveled to Russell Tyler-Ruthton for a very entertaining game. The game was marked by six lead changes, 14 hits by TMB and 12 hits by RTR and a total of 37 runs scored. In the end, TMB held on for a 20-17 win that saw both teams have missed offensive and defensive opportunities that wore out the base paths for both teams.

“This early April baseball is kind of a toss-up, with each pitcher having a good inning, and then things fell off,” TMB head coach James Fultz said. “There were a lot of missed opportunities on both sides, and we each did a few things differently. They bunted more than we did, and we stole more bases than they did. With the weather, we really haven’t had a chance to work on bunting yet, and there are some other things that we haven’t had a chance to do yet. But hopefully, as the season goes on, we will get some good practices and things will come a little more naturally. It was an entertaining game, and we are glad to get the win.”

The seventh inning saw TMB come back in a big way. Trailing 13-11, Ashton Squires reached on an error and Trevor Smith followed up with a single. On a sacrifice bunt, an errant throw to first base resulted in Squires scoring. David Schuh lined out, with Isaac Dagel making a great stab at second base. But four consecutive walks gave the lead back to the Panthers.

Noah Knakmuhs then singled in two runs and Squires doubled home two more runs. Squires then scored on a wild pitch and a balk, and TMB had a 20-13 lead going into the bottom of the seventh after rallying for nine runs.

But RTR wasn’t giving up. Blake Christianson started it off with a single. Eli Determan was hit by a pitch and, with one out, Drew Chandler singled home two runs. A walk and a fielder’s choice by Seth Cowell drove in another run, then Sean Griesse got his fifth hit of the game to drive in another run, making it 20-17.

Yet, with two runners on, TMB was able to get two ground ball outs to end the game.

The top of the sixth started with singles by Squires and Smith, followed by two walks, and after a strikeout, Alex Schuh and Jeret Ankrum both drew walks to bring home two runs, and it was now tied up at 11-11. In the bottom of the sixth, Chase Christianson and Colby Louwagie both drew walks, and Seth Cowell hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Christianson. Sean Griesse followed up with his fourth hit of the day to drive in Louwagie to give RTR a 13-11 lead going into the seventh inning.

The Panthers starting pitcher, Ashton Squires, got the game off to a good start for TMB, notching four strikeouts in a row to keep the Knights at bay in the first two innings. In the top half of the third, Alex Schuh reached on an error. After a single by Jeret Ankrum, Schuh scored the first run on a passed ball. RTR came up in their half of the third, and thanks to a Sean Griesse bunt single, two TMB errors, two hit batsmen, and two walks, RTR scored five runs to take a 5-1 lead.

David Schuh opened up the fourth inning with a single. Following two fly ball outs, the Panthers got a single by Alex Schuh, a run-scoring triple by Jeret Ankrum, an RBI single by Noah Knakmuhs, an Ashton Squires two-RBI double and a hit batter to retake the lead at 6-5. RTR went down in order in their half of the fourth, but the fun was just starting.

The top of the fifth started off with two quick outs, sandwiched by a Jacob Meyer single. But another hit batter, a balk, and a two-RBI single by Jeret Ankrum added to their lead at 8-5. In the bottom of the fifth, with one out, Eli Determan walked, Chase Christianson and Drew Chandler had back-to-back RBI doubles, and after a walk to Colby Louwagie, Seth Cowell doubled home a run and Sean Griesse got his third hit of the day to drive in another run, and RTR had re-taken the lead 11-8.

RTR first-year coach Danny Moffitt was quite pleased that his team did not give up after falling behind late in the game.

“We were going back and forth the whole game. The umpire had a tight zone but a consistent zone for both teams,” Moffitt said. “You have to hit your spots and battle back on the offensive side. I like their attitude, they never gave up, even with all the errors and walks. It is easy to get down once things start to go downhill. But I never had a doubt that we would fight back, and I am pretty pumped up for next week.”

Sean Griesse, who had five hits in the game, said, “I have been struggling at the plate early in the season, and I finally got it working tonight. We had to tell each other to keep our heads up, put a smile on, and have some fun while we were trying to get back. We need to just let the game happen, and make the necessary adjustments.”

The Panthers remain undefeated at 4-0 on the season and will look to pick up win No. 5 in Granite Falls on Tuesday, where they will take on Yellow Medicine East at 4:30 p.m.

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton falls to 2-2 on the season and will look to rebound back above .500 when they head to Slayton for a matchup against Murray County Central on Monday at 4:30 p.m.