For much of his seven inning pitching, Corydon Central’s Justin Richardson was in the zone. The senior right-hander struck out 11 batters as the Panthers upended Mid-Southern Conference foe Salem 10-2 Thursday in Corydon.

“He was very on top of his game today,” said Corydon Central assistant coach Nolan Brightman. “He fills up the zone and trusts his defense. I set a personal goal for the guys today to have zero errors, and they did it. It was a clean game defensively. We feel pretty good every time Justin goes on the mound.”

The lone hiccup inning for Richardson was in the fourth. A hit batter (Eli Thomasson) and single given up to Landon Suvak put runners on base. Both would eventually score on passed balls.

For the Corydon Central offense, seniors Gabe Fleace (Indiana Wesleyan signee) and Logan Murphy had three RBI days with the latter nearly hitting for the cycle.

Fleace opened the game drawing a free pass from Salem starter Shane Mahuron. Two outs later, Corydon Central clean-up hitter Chase Straub sent a rocket line drive over the left field fence. The two-run homer gave the Panthers an early 2-0 edge. Murphy would add on in the first as well with a double, scoring Brady Babcock, who reached on a single.

“We always talk about short term memories,” said Brightman. “Chase homered in Tuesday’s game and he continued with a good approach today. All the guys are starting to have good approaches in every at bat.”

Richardson tried to help his own cause in the third with a double skipping over the third base bag, but the senior was later stranded at third. Corydon Central’s Murphy, who was a homer shy of the cycle, hit a triple to open the fourth inning. Mahuron worked out of the frame by inducing a ground out, strike out then was aided by a leaping grab by second baseman Danny Bowling to take away a possible Jaeden Singleton hit.

The floodgates opened in the fifth when Corydon Central rolled up seven runs.

Starting with the top of the order, Fleace reached on a single, followed by Jacob Chaires making it to first on an error. An intentional walk to Straub loaded the bags for Brady Babcock, who delivered an RBI single. After fouling off several pitches, Murphy stayed hot with a two-run single.

The inning continued with an RBI sacrifice fly by Avery Timberlake then a three-run triple by Fleace on the first pitch he saw from reliever Hayden Collins.

“We have six seniors, so a lot of leadership on this team,” said Brightman. “They are coming around at the right time. We are shaping up to be where we want to be come sectional time.”

Thomasson had a one out hit for Salem in the sixth, but beyond that, the Lions struggled to put runners on late versus Richardson.

“Momentum is huge,” said Brightman. “Like a lot of teams, we play a lot better when the momentum is on our side. Tonight, we did that and ran with it. It got a little shaky in the fourth, but we brought it back again in the fifth.”

Corydon Central had 10 hits, led by the 3 for 4 day from Murphy. Babcock, Fleace and Straub had two hits apiece with all three scoring twice. Richardson gave up three hits and two unearned runs to score the victory.

Mahuron lasted four innings for Salem, giving up three runs on five hits. He struck out three.

The Panthers (6-9) have won three of their last five, with the two losses coming to 3A sectional favorites Providence and Silver Creek. Salem, entering the match-up on a two-game win streak, dropped to 8-9.

“We had a rough start to the week, facing two really good teams, but we are 1-2 on the week now,” said Brightman. “But, we have a chance to go 3-2 this week. Next week we have more winnable games leading up to sectional. We have been challenging the guys to get on a roll and get going. I think they have seen what they are capable of doing.”

Corydon Central hosts an Invitational this weekend, opening against Tell City on Friday. The tournament continues Saturday, and also features Crawford County and Eastern (Pekin).

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