Carson Aycock's shutout carries Fighting Squirrels past Kennett 5-0

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Charleston Fighting Squirrels starting pitcher Carson Aycock fires a pitch to a Kennett hitter in the bottom of the first inning of Game 1 of a scheduled doubleheader Tuesday at Indian Park in Kennett. Aycock pitched a complete-game shutout.

KENNETT, Mo. - Kennett Indians starting pitcher Marshall Brown went the distance on the hill but did not receive the run support he needed to knock off the defending Senior Babe Ruth national champion Charleston Fighting Squirrels Tuesday evening at Indian Park.

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Kennett starting pitcher Marshall Brown makes a throw to first baseball in Game 1 of a scheduled doubleheader against the Charleston Fighting Squirrels Tuesday at Indian Park in Kennett.

Charleston Fighting Squirrels right-hander Carson Aycock more than matched Brown on the hill. Aycock, who is an East Prairie talent, fired a complete-game shutout to help carry Charleston past Kennett 5-0 in Game 1 of a scheduled doubleheader.

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Kennett shortstop Reese Robinett flips a ball to the infield Tuesday at Indian Park in Kennett.

“Carson was good today,” Charleston Fighting Squirrels coach Michael Minner said. “He mixed up three or four pitches and threw them for strikes. He got ahead in the count and we made all the plays behind him today. That’s what we expect out of him. He had a really good high school year pitching for East Prairie and he is a competitor on the mound.”

Aycock, who struck out eight and walked zero in a 77-pitch outing, had the luxury of pitching with a lead throughout his seven-inning start. Charleston scored two runs in the top of the first inning and two runs in the top of the second inning to jump out to an early 4-0 lead after two innings of play. The Squirrels added its fifth run in the top of the seventh inning when Joe Panagos hit a two-out solo home run.

"Our offense struggled and we had a bad first two innings,” Kennett coach Aaron New said. "You just cannot do that against a good team. “We just didn’t swing it really well today. We had some good at-bats but we couldn’t string together consecutive good at-bats."

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Charleston Fighting Squirrels leadoff hitter Joe Panagos is greeted by teammates after hitting a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning of Game 1 of a scheduled doubleheader Tuesday at Indian Park in Kennett.

Charleston did all of its damage with two outs in the top of the first inning. No. 3 hitter Jacob Watkins and cleanup hitter Steven Willis collected consecutive two-out singles before No. 5 hitter Landon Tenkhoff followed with a 2 RBI double to give Charleston a 2-0 lead.

“Those are good baseball runs when you can throw together a couple of runs with two outs,” Minner said. “I’m really pleased with the way we are swinging the bats early. Our approach is pretty good right now for early in the year. But it’s still a learning process and we want to play a lot of baseball so we can see what we have.”

Charleston added its third run in the top of the second inning after Lane McLevain drew a leadoff off walk, Ajay Sager reached base on an infield error, and Luke Nichols followed by hitting a sacrifice fly to left field. Sager also scored later in the frame on the infield error to pad the Fighting Squirrels' lead to 4-0.

Brown allowed only three hits after the second inning. He surrendered five runs (four earned), five hits, struck out five, and walked one in a 98-pitch outing.

“Marshall threw the way he is capable of throwing after the second inning,” New said. “He found his breaking ball and his fastball in the third inning. He did a good job of finishing the game for us.”

Kennett’s best scoring opportunity came when Carter Maddox and J.T. Williams collected consecutive two-out singles in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Indians stranded runners at second at third when the next hitter, Seth Tice, popped out to end the sixth.

Maddox, who batted ninth in the 10-man lineup, was a bright spot for the Indians at the plate. He finished 2-for-2 with a pair of singles.

“Carter Maddox started coming on with the bat at the end of high school season and is continuing to swing it well this summer,” New said. “We are glad to see he is heating up at the plate.”

The second game of the scheduled doubleheader between Kennett and Charleston was rained out.

Kennett (2-1), which beat Paragould Legion 6-0 and 6-2 in a road doubleheader Saturday, is back in action Thursday when it hots the Southeast Tropics. The first game of the doubleheader begins at 5 p.m.

Charleston (2-2) is off until June when it hosts Mineral Area at Hillhouse Park in Charleston. The first game of the doubleheader begins at 6 p.m.

"It’s still early in the year and we are trying to figure out where kids are going to play,” Minner said. "We’ve only seen some of our guys one or two games. We are trying to learn about them as much as they are learning more about us and get some of the nerves out. They are trying to impress and crack the lineup and sometimes when you are trying to do that it makes things a little tougher early in the season. We need to get settled in. Hopefully, we will know more about our guys in a week or two.”

Charleston Fighting Squirrels 5, Kennett Indians 0

CHAR 220 000 1 - 5 8 0

KENN 000 000 0 - 0 5 2

W - Carson Aycock. L - Marshall Brown. HR - Joe Panagos (CH). 2B - Seth Tice (K), Landon Tenkhoff (CH), Ajay Sager (CH). Multiple hits - Kennett: Carter Maddox 2-2; Charleston Panagos 2-4, Jacob Watkins 2-3.

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Charleston Fighting Squirrels shortstop Tanner King turns a 6-4-3 double play with Kennett’s No. 23 Carter Maddox racing toward second in Game 1 of a scheduled doubleheader Tuesday at Indian Park in Kennett.