Klein Oak Panthers played well Monday night against Klein but were unable to close the Bearkats out in the bottom of the 7th as they took their first lead and the win in the bottom of the 7th.

JP Phillips started on the mound for Oak and pitched a great game giving up only one hit through 4 innings. When Cody Emerson came in for relief in the bottom of the 6th with 2 outs, he retired the side facing only one batter. However, the Bearkats found their bats in the 7th and loaded the bases; which ultimately drove in the winning run on a well timed single.

The Panthers scored 1 in the top of the first with Graham Lange driving in JP Phillips with a RBI single and great defense by right fielder Will Hoffmans with two outstanding catches helped keep the Beartkats scoreless in the first. Oak's capitalized on 3 walks and a drop third strike that put Jacob Fowler, Zach Shulze and Cody Emerson on base in the top of the 2nd inning. The Panther's great base running and a passed ball scored two before Klein retired the side putting Oak up 3 to 0 going into the bottom of the 2nd.

Klein struck back with a huge triple to lead off the inning and an error by the Panthers coupled with 2 walks helped Klein score 2 before another huge defensive stop by Will Hoffmans and great infield play by Fowler, Arthur and Phillips retired the side. Oak answered back in the 3rd again capitalizing on a passed ball combined with a great RBI hit by Travis Arthur that scored Steven Butler to add another run to Oak's total. Great pitching by Phillips stuck out 2 and a great catch in left by Matt Sloan kept Klein scoreless in the 3rd and Oak went into the 4th up 4 to 2.

After Zach Schulze's great hustle to first, he was left stranded on base in the 4th as Phillips struck out 2 of the 3 batters in the bottom of the 4th to keep the score 4-2 going into the 5th. A well timed double by Stephen Butler, a single by Matt Sloan and an RBI single by Jacob Fowler scored 1 and left two Panthers stranded in the 5th. Great defense by the Panthers catching 2 Bearkats stealing in the bottom of the 5th combined with a strike out got Oak out of a pickle as Klein batters hit a triple, an rbi double and an rbi single scoring two before the third out, closing Oak's gap to 1 run going into the 6th. Great team work by first baseman Fowler and pitcher Phillips to beat the runner to first and a great throw by short stop Zach Schulze to Fowler got two quick outs in the top of the 6th as Cody Emerson came in as relief after a Bearkat single. Emerson saw only one batter as Chris Thompson came off third to catch the popup for the 3rd out of the inning.

The Bearkats had a great defensive 7th throwing out three of Oak's four batters and Oak headed into the bottom of the 7th still up 5-4. In the bottom of the 7th, the Bearkats loaded the bases and Emerson struck out the fourth batter. Back to back single RBI's scored two Bearkats as they took the lead and the win to end the game. Great game Sophomores. Tough loss but we are proud of you!