IMS went toe to toe with the Pekin Panthers Thursday night in the second round of district action, before they fell by a 2-1 score. The Panthers drew first blood, scoring an unearned run in the first inning when Kolby Allsup reached on an error and Keaton Winn drove him in with an RBI ground out. The inning ended on an outfield assist from Dallas Nye in center to Tyler Messer behind the plate who tagged out the charging Petie Clubb. Messer endured the collision and hung onto the ball, the play at the plate resulted in Clubb’s ejection for dangerous play. The Panthers doubled their lead in the third, when Trevor Northup came home on a balk to make it 2-0.

The best IMS scoring chance of the night came in the fourth when they loaded the bases with no one out as Nye walked and Tanner Leyden and Tyler Messer singled. Brent Brenneman singled to make it three straight hits and drive in Nye but a shallow fly to right and a play at the plate on a sacrifice fly attempt ended the inning with IMS still trailing 2-1. After the game Head Coach Danny Hershberger talked about the importance of the fourth inning scoring chance.

“When you get the bases loaded you always want to put a crooked number on the board, but they did a good job of making a play there to get themselves out of that,” Hershberger said. “Our guys put together some nice hits, but sometimes that how it goes in baseball.”

IMS would get the tying run on base in the sixth inning but left him stranded at first base. In the seventh Payton Miller led off with a single and moved around to third base with two outs. IMS would strand the tying run 90 feet away as the game and the IMS season would end on a ground out to short.

Leyden took the loss for IMS going six innings, allowing five hits, two runs, neither of them earned, while walking one and striking out one. At the plate IMS was led by Leyden, Messer, Brenneman, Payton Miller and Tobyn Miller who all had one hit apiece. IMS ends their season at 11-16.