Fayette, Mo. — Central Methodist rallied twice Saturday afternoon at Estes Field, earning a doubleheader sweep of William Penn with a pair of dramatic one-run victories, both by scores of 7-6. 

The Eagles used timely home runs and late-inning pitching to move to 7-8 overall, while the Statesmen fell to 9-6.

Game 1: Central Methodist 7 - William Penn 6

William Penn jumped out early, plating four runs in the opening inning to take a 4-0 lead. Keoni Young delivered an RBI single before a wild pitch brought in another run. Leland Riley II capped the inning with a two-run single.

Central Methodist began to chip away in the second when Landon McKillip lifted a sacrifice fly to score Simon "JJ" Yoakum IV, making it 4-1. 

The Eagles surged ahead in the third with back-to-back long balls. Jordan Vazquez doubled and came home when Gavin Whitehurst launched a two-run homer to left-center. One batter later, Dariel Rios tied the game with a solo shot to left.

CMU grabbed the lead in the fifth when Rios drove in Dawson Kellgren with a sacrifice fly, making it 5–4.

The Eagles added crucial insurance in the sixth as Justin Smith blasted a two-run homer to right field, extending the lead to 7–4.

William Penn threatened in the seventh when Young singled home two runs, but Jeremy Yanow closed the door to secure the victory.

Whitehurst led CMU offensively with two hits and two RBI, while Rios and Smith each drove in two runs. Yanow earned the win in relief, tossing three innings with two runs allowed and two strikeouts.

Game 2: Central Methodist 7 - William Penn 6 (8 inn.)

The Eagles again needed late heroics in the nightcap.

Central struck first in the second inning when Zeb Wede launched a two-run homer to left, scoring Rios for an early 2–0 advantage.

William Penn answered with a five-run third inning, taking advantage of defensive miscues to build a 5–2 lead.

Vazquez cut the deficit to two in the bottom of the third with a solo home run to left-center.

The Statesmen pushed the lead to 6–3 in the sixth, but CMU responded immediately. Vazquez and Justin Smith scored on a two-run single from Gavin Whitehurst, trimming the margin to one.

Wede delivered again in the seventh, crushing his second homer of the game to tie it 6–6 and force extra innings.

In the eighth, Vazquez provided the walk-off moment, hammering his second home run of the game over the left-field wall to give the Eagles the 7–6 victory.

Vazquez finished three-for-five with two home runs and three runs scored, while Wede went two-for-four with two homers and three RBI. 

On the mound, Alexander Gryckiewicz picked up the win with three innings of relief, allowing just two hits and one unearned run while striking out three.

Central Methodist totaled 14 runs on 20 hits in the sweep, with seven home runs across the two games.

Up Next:

Central remains at home to host Graceland for a non-conference doubleheader Sunday, March 8 starting at 1:00 p.m. 

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