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Panthers’ delayed baseball season starts with 3-2 win over Bottineau

By Sue Sitter - | Apr 29, 2023

Sue Sitter/PCT Rugby’s Jacob Ripplinger slides home for a 3-2 win against the Bottineau Braves in the Panthers’ season opener at Northern Lights Field in Rugby April 24.

Clear and sunny weather gave the Rugby Panthers a chance to play ball on their home diamond for the first time in their 2023 season April 24, when they defeated the Bottineau Braves 3-2.

The game at Northern Lights Field kicked off the baseball season for both teams, who had waited three weeks for Central North Dakota’s weather to cooperate.

Late snow forced six games and a baseball tournament to be rescheduled.

Panthers Coach Travis Risovi said, “We actually have everything rescheduled. We play Northern Lights in Rolette (April 25), and then we’ll play North Star here on Thursday (April 27). Then, the one we had missed from earlier against North Star we’ll play on May 2 in Cando.”

The Panthers-Braves contest began as a pitching battle, with Rugby Starter Brody Schneibel allowing only one on base due to an error.

Bottineau starter Eli Bristol also kept Rugby batters at bay.

In the fourth inning, Bottineau’s Jake Hennings broke through Rugby’s defense with a base hit. Bottineau pitcher Eli Bristol stepped up next, smacking a home run over the right field fence.

With a 2-0 deficit, the Panthers regrouped. Jacob Ripplinger took over pitching duties for Rugby.

Rugby began to make progress at bat in the fifth inning. A single landed Ripplinger on base, then a series of wild pitches gave Ripplinger a steal and walked Schneibel. As Bottineau’s pitching faltered, Rugby’s Erik Foster stepped up to the plate, batting Ripplinger in with a double.

A walk followed before a strikeout by Bristol ended the inning, stranding three Rugby runners.

The Panthers’ defense held the line again, although an error allowed Bottineau’s Gabe Glasner on base with a pop fly in the sixth inning. Ripplinger and second base player Logan Harner picked Glasner off on a steal attempt, ending the threat.

Hennings would move to the pitcher’s mound for Bottineau in the sixth inning. He held Rugby back with three strikeouts.

Ripplinger struck out two at the top of the seventh inning before allowing one base hit from Bristol. A short grounder hit by Bottineau’s Lewis Gorder went right to Harner at second base, which ended the inning.

Rugby still trailed 2-1 at the game’s last inning, but not for long.

Macen Heisler broke through Hennings’ pitching blockade with a base hit to left field. Next, Ripplinger doubled with a hit to deep center field. Schneibel stepped to the plate next, landing another in the same spot as Ripplinger’s shot to center field, this time, bouncing the ball off the fence.

Heisler crossed the plate first to tie the score. Ripplinger rounded third and slid home, beating the glove of Bottineau catcher Gabe Glasner by fractions of a second.

The Panthers emptied the dugout to celebrate their first win of the season.

“It was a good start. We played pretty well defensively,” Risovi said after the game. “There were a couple of little errors, but they weren’t ones that hurt us. And both of our pitchers threw really well.”

“They threw strikes,” he added. “Brody had one pitch that he threw hard and the kid hit it a long way, but other than that, I thought it was a really good day.”

Of the Panthers’ batting, Risovi said, “It’s one of those things. Pitching, especially at the beginning of the year is always ahead of hitting.”

“It’s hard to get your bat speed and your timing down when you’re practicing in the armory or the gym,” he added. “We’ve only been outside four days. It’s a timing thing, and thank goodness we got three or four bats during the game and at the end of the game, we made some good contact.”

The Panthers would see a busy first week of baseball with games against Rolette and Rolla before heading to Beulah for a baseball triangular today. Results from those games will appear in the May 6 Pierce County Tribune.