By Fred Kroner
The St. Joseph Panthers closed their home season and the regular season with back-to-back shutouts to end last week.
On Saturday (Sept. 10), Willis Canamore pitched a perfect game against Paxton-Buckley-Loda, striking out 14 of the 18 batters he faced in a 10-0 St. Joseph victory.
Canamore has a 5-0 season record.
Jameson Ennis and Eli Garrett swatted two hits apiece. Cam Buskirk drove in three runs. Garrett and Finn Miller contributed two RBI apiece. Ennis and Tripp Palmer each scored two runs.
On Friday (Sept. 9), St. Joseph registered a 12-0 shutout victory over Oakwood on Friday.
Ryder VanMeenen tossed a one-hitter, walking three and striking out two.
Palmer supplied the offensive fireworks, going 3-for-3, scoring three runs and driving in three runs. Teammates Miller and Ennis both swatted two hits. Miller scored three runs. Tyler Wright collected two RBI. Ennis and Canamore crossed home plate twice each.
On Thursday (Sept. 8), Canamore got St. Joseph on the board with a two-run single. His hit knocked in Ennis and Miller in a 12-2 loss at Charleston.
Miller and Buskirk had the team’s other hits.
Pitchers Nolan Franzen and Miller combined to issue four walks and fan four batters.
On Wednesday (Sept. 7), Ennis and Owen Wall combined for a three-hitter as St. Joseph blasted Urbana, 13-1, at home.
Ennis pitched three innings, walking three and striking out six. Wall relieved and faced three batters in the fourth inning, fanning two of them.
The offensive heroics were provided by Franzen and Wright, each of whom were 3-for-3. Wright scored three runs and Franzen drove in three runs.
Firing off two hits apiece were Garrett, Buskirk, Ennis and Thomas Ware. Buskirk, Ennis and Palmer provided two RBI apiece.
Crossing home plate twice each were Franzen and Canamore.
Top-seeded St. Joseph (14-6) returns to action on Saturday (Sept. 17) in a first-round Class 2A IESA regional tournament game against either Oakwood or Bismarck-Henning.
