By Rob Potter
LIVINGSTON MANOR — The visiting Monticello Panthers rallied from a two-run deficit in the final two innings to record a 9-7 victory over the Livingston Manor Wildcats in Friday afternoon’s non-league baseball game
Entering the sixth inning, Manor held a 7-5 lead. But Monticello scored twice in the top of the sixth to knot the score at 7-7. Bobby Wagner, who reached base on fielder’s choice, scored when Connor Briggs belted a double to right field.
After Sean Reuss walked, Khalil Guadalupe singled to left field. Briggs crossed the plate to tie the game.
With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Manor’s Mike Mills walked. But Mills was unable to advance from first base because the Panthers’ pitcher, Briggs, got out of the inning with a pop fly and a strikeout.
Monticello (2-1) scored two runs in the top of the seventh with a two-out rally. Chandler Williams started the comeback with infield single. After stealing second base, Williams scored the go-ahead run on an error which also allowed Shane Jackson to reach base.
Jackson scored the insurance run when Wagner singled to right field.
In the bottom of the seventh the first two Manor batters, Taylor Pagan and Joey Fredenburg, reached base. After Pagan was tagged out at third base, Briggs got the next two batters to ground out to end the game.
“Connor [Briggs] came in a did a great job on the hill,” Monticello Coach Mike Marra said.
Marra was also pleased to get a victory against the Wildcats.
“Manor’s a great team,” he said. “They’re well-coached and they are scrappy. They always play hard.
“It was a good win,” Marra added. “We made some mistakes, but we were able to rebound from them.”
In addition to picking up the win in relief, Briggs led the Panthers’ offense with two hits. One of those hits was an RBI triple that tied the score at 2-2 in the top of the second.
Guadalupe also had two hits for Monticello.
Adam Hendrix gave Manor (2-3) a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the second. Dillon Taggart, who reached base on a walk, scored when Hendrix singled to left field.
The Wildcats scored three times in the bottom of the fifth to take a 7-5 advantage. Brandon Smith began the inning with a double to left field and scored the tying run when Mills singled.
Mills scored moments later on a base hit by Pagan.
Three batters later, Taggart scored on an error to give the Wildcats their aforementioned 7-5 advantage.
“We don’t close out games well,” Manor Coach Jeff Loeffler said. “We made too many errors. You can’t win many games when you have six errors and leave 10 men on base.”
“Monticello certainly played better than we did,” Loeffler added. “They made some mistakes, too, but they got good hits when they needed to.”
The Wildcats were looking to rebound from the loss yesterday afternoon when they hosted Tuxedo in a non-league game. Manor is also slated to host Margaretville, a Section IV, Class D team, at noon tomorrow.