Pine Prairie pulls off doubleheader sweep over Northwest High

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PINE PRAIRIE -- It was a tremendous day for the Pine Prairie offense, as the Panthers blasted their way for 25 runs and 24 hits en route to a doubleheader district sweep of the Northwest Raiders Monday afternoon.
In game one, the Panthers produced nine hits in a 12-0 blanking of the Raiders and followed that up with 15 hits in game two to motor past Northwest 13-2.
With the two wins, Pine Prairie moved to 16-9 on the year and 6-4 in District 5-3A play. The Panthers will host Iota today in a key district contest. Game time is set for 6 p.m. Pine Prairie will also face the Bulldogs on Saturday on the road. That game is set for 1 p.m.
In game one, Joel Franks took to the mound and threw a complete game shut-out, allowing two hits while striking out five and walking three.
Pine Prairie scored its first three runs in the very first at bat of the game. Kyler Carson singled and reached second on a single by JJ Sims. A third single off of the bat of Jordan Ardoin plated Carson and sent Sims to third base.
A passed ball allowed Sims to score and pushed Ardoin to second base. A ground out to the right side sent Ardoin to third base where he would also score on a passed ball.
The Panthers added to thier lead in the top of the second, scoring four more runs. Carson led off and reached first on a hit by pitch and took second base on a passed ball.
Sims singled home Carson and moved to second on a walk issued to Ardoin. Sims stole third and reached home on a ground out to second base, which also moved Ardoin to third base.
Another ground out scored Ardoin. Nick Ortego would single, steal second base and reach third on a error. Ortego crossed home plate for the final run of the inning on a passed ball.
Pine Prairie moved ahead 9-0 in the top of the third and 11-0 in the top of the fourth. The Panthers finished out their scoring by getting a solo run inthe top of the fifth inning.
Game two was somewhat similar to game one in that Pine Prairie was able to score in bunches.
Northwest actually jumped on the board to begin, scoring their only two runs in the top of the first inning.
The Panthers answered with four runs of their own in the bottom of the first. A one out error put Sims at first base. Back-to-back singles from Ardoin and Franks allowed Sims to score and put runners at first and second.
A ground out sent Ardoin to third and Franks to second. Ortego’s single plated both runners. Ortego would cross home plate on a double by Ardoin.
Pine Prairie could not put up any more runs in the second and third innings. However, the Panthers blasted their way for five more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Franks, Cole Thomas, Ortego and Ardoin all singled in the inning to lead the way.
The Panthers closed out the game by adding four more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. This time it was the hitting of Jordan Ardoin, Franks, Thomas and Ortego that did the damage, with all four of the players collecting singles in the at bat.