WARR ACRES – Putnam City North used two big innings late in the game to rout sister school Putnam City, 14-2, Friday (April 5).

The win broke a nine-game losing streak for North.

The Panthers (4-15, 1-7 in Class 6A District 2) broke open a slim 4-2 lead in the fifth inning with two doubles, two walks, a single and a Putnam City error. North plated five runs to make it 9-2.

The Panthers added five more insurance runs in the seventh on four singles and a double to make it 14-2.

North pounded out 13 hits, something that pleased Panther coach Greg Johnson.

“We’re trying to get more contact, less strikeouts, and that’s what we’ve been working on,” Johnson said, “We put it in play today and made them make the plays and when we hit it at them, sometimes they didn’t, but we got a good amount of hits out of it as well.”

The Panthers struck out only three times and took advantage of five Pirate errors.

The Panthers had four players in the lineup with multi-hit games.

Junior Atticus Duffy-Relf went 2-for-2 on the day with two runs batted in. Sophomore Austin Guerrero added a 2-for-3 game, driving in four runs. Fellow sophomore Gavin Lang was 4-for-5 with three RBIs and another sophomore, Mitchell Taylor, was 3-for-5.

Along with the balanced hitting, the Panthers didn’t commit an error.

“We got guys playing different positions than they’re used to and making defensive plays in spots they’re not used to,” Johnson said. “All in all, it was a good team win.”

On the mound, sophomore Alfredo Renteria earned the victory with five innings in relief, striking out five.

For the Pirates (3-13, 2-6 in Class 6A District 1), it was more frustration after seeing a small deficit balloon due to the Panthers and Pirate mistakes.

“It just goes back to just not getting timely hits,” Putnam City coach Camden Dennard said.

Dennard also mentioned the lack of situational awareness where the Pirates ran into outs on the base-paths in a 4-1 game.

“They got to understand, it’s a 4-1 ballgame. It’s early, but still if we’re ahead 4-1, yeah, maybe, but not down 4-1, we need every runner we can get,” Dennard said. “Every out we can get, those outs dwindle as you go. So we have to take advantage of every out we get and we can’t give them up trying to do our own thing.”

Junior Lukas Poindexter went 2-for-3 with a triple and a run batted in .

“(Poindexter)’s a new catcher behind the dish, so he’s going through some growing pains, and I’m trying to keep him motivated and understand that there’s still work to be done and that he’s got time to work, but I thought he had a good day swinging it,” Dennard said.

UP NEXT: Putnam City North returns to district play with a two-game series with Westmoore. The Panthers host the Jaguars Monday (April 8) and Westmoore returns the favor Tuesday. First pitch both days is at 5 p.m.

Despite the record, Johnson believes his squad is getting closer to being competitive.

“I think everybody will tell you I’m trying to get them to ready for regionals and that’s when it matters,” Johnson said. “We are getting better every day. So that’s all we got to keep trying to do.”

Putnam City returns to district play with a two-game series with Edmond Santa Fe, going on the road Monday (April 8) and returning home Tuesday against the Wolves. Both games start at 5 p.m.

Mired in a four-game losing streak, Dennard believes his squad has to have a short memory.

“That’s one thing I’m trying to teach with all these guys is you’ve got to move on. Like, control what you can control. If you can’t control it, then why worry about it?” Dennard said. “If it’s already happened, you can’t go back in the time, back in time and change it.”

Dennard was out for a week because he and his wife had a baby.

“I think we kinda took a step back in a way (on the field), but we’re gonna be better. I can guarantee that. We’re gonna make steps forward, starting now.”

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Putnam City North	3	0	1	0	5	0	5	14	13	0
Putnam City	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	6	5

PUTNAM CITY NORTH	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
Taylor	5	1	3	1	0	0
Aaron	4	1	0	1	0	0
Swart	4	1	0	1	0	1
Wall	4	2	1	0	1	1
Lang	5	2	4	3	0	0
Schnid	3	1	1	0	2	0
Duffy-Reif	3	2	3	2	0	0
Carattini	3	1	0	0	0	1
Guerrero	3	2	2	4	1	0
– Dansby	0	1	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	34	14	14	12	4	3

PUTNAM CITY NORTH	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Lopez	2	3	1	1	2	2
Renteria ( W )	5	3	1	1	0	5
TOTAL	7	6	2	2	2	7

PUTNAM CITY	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
Fast	4	1	1	0	0	0
Poindexter	3	1	2	1	0	0
B Bennett	3	0	0	0	0	2
Andrews	3	0	0	1	0	0
Josh Potter	3	0	1	0	1	1
C Bennett	3	0	1	0	0	2
Jared Potter	2	0	0	0	1	0
Thein	3	0	1	0	0	0
Twillie	2	0	0	0	1	2
TOTAL	26	2	6	2	3	7

PUTNAM CITY	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Josh Potter ( L )	4.1	7	8	6	4	3
Andrews	2.2	6	6	5	0	0
TOTAL	7	13	14	11	4	3