Special Thanks to the Argus/Dispatch

By Shannon Heaton, Staff sports writer

Rock Island's baseball team struck early Thursday afternoon in a nonconference matchup against Western Big 6 rival United Township at Rock Island High School.

The early strike accounted for four Rocks runs, which were more than enough to hold up, as Rock Island (8-2) took an 8-0 victory over the Panthers.

The win was the Rocks' seventh in a row after starting the season 1-2. United Township, which hadn't played in a week, fell to 0-2.

``The nice thing about all these guys is that they work their tails off in practice, they understand how to play the game on the field and talk about the game off the field,'' Rock Island coach Andy Campbell said. ``You can't ask anything more of their effort and enthusiasm. They're a joy to be around.''

What was particularly joyous for the Rocks was the way they started the game, thanks to a four-run first inning. Leadoff hitter and eventual winning pitcher Chase Stephens singled and his courtesy runner, Luke DePron, later scored on a wild pitch.

Then, sophomore catcher Andrew Tarnow drove in a pair of runs, scoring Derek Goetzl and Grant Snyder with a single. Tarnow's courtesy runner, Brett Larson, eventually scored on an RBI groundout by right fielder Nick Davis.

``That's what we want from the top of the order,'' Campbell said of his top third of the lineup, which reached base 10 times. Stephens reached base in all three of his plate appearances, and No. 2 hitter Goetzl reached base in all four of his.

From there, the Rocks had little trouble holding the lead and the Panthers had a lot of trouble making inroads against it.

Not that the Panthers didn't have their chances. UT got batters in scoring position in every inning, with four of 12 baserunners reaching third base, but never could come up with the timely hit with runners in scoring position.

``You can't wait until the end of the game to have better at-bats: you've got to get them right from the getgo,'' Panthers assistant coach Brad Marner, who ran the team in place of ill head coach Jason VanHoutte, said. ``We'll compete, but it's just going to take more confidence at the plate.''

Starting pitcher Stephens (2-1) made things difficult for UT, allowing only two hits over five innings. Though he didn't give the Panthers much to hit, he did allow several baserunners, walking three and hitting three batters during that same stretch.

``Chase has got some great stuff, but he threw a lot of pitches and went deep into the counts quite a bit,'' Campbell said. ``I would call it a good performance. He knows he can be better, and we're going to need him to be better down the road.''

Tarnow, who batted cleanup for the Rocks, and left fielder Denver Schmitt were Rock Island's hitting stars. Tarnow was 2-for-3 at the plate, with three RBIs, while Schmitt added a pair of hits -- including an RBI double in the sixth -- and had two RBIs.

For UT, center fielder Kyle Dirck was the Panthers' brightest offensive spot in the lineup. Dirck reached base three times, with a double.

``We're worried about being so young,'' Marner said. ``We've only got two seniors out there. But our defense is so much stronger than last year, and we're pleased with that. We just have to be more aggressive at the plate, and we'll get there.''