Miller’s first career home run propels Indians to West Central Conference victory over Panthers

PAYSON, Ill. — Relief. That was Hunter Miller’s overwhelming emotion as he rounded the bases for the first home run of his baseball career Wednesday.

“It’s taken way too long,” Miller said.

The sophomore’s two-run fourth-inning home run helped Payson Seymour secure a 9-6 West Central Conference victory over Camp Point Central.

“I’ve been waiting for it,” Miller said. “I’ve hit a couple balls off the wall, and that’s it.”

Payson Seymour coach Brenton Hannel said moments like Miller’s home run are part of what makes baseball so special.

“It’s neat to watch kids do something like that,” Hannel said. “Hitting a home run is pretty neat, and to see their excitement when they do that is pretty cool.”

A Mason Miller home run gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but the Indians (8-7) scored two runs of their own with two outs in the bottom half. Ashton Ertz walked and Hunter Miller singled, then two straight errors brought in a run apiece.

Payson Seymour senior Wyatt Niesen’s two-run home run with one out in the bottom of the fourth broke the tie.

“It hit smooth off the bat, but I didn’t think it was going that far, especially with our tall wall,” Niesen said of his home run. “I was rounding second and I had no idea where it was, but I guess it worked out.”

Indians starting pitcher Blake Schwartz pitched the first six innings while allowing just two earned runs. He started the seventh inning with the Indians leading 9-5. After back-to-back singles to begin the inning, Niesen took over on the mound. 

“Coach told me about three pitches before I was supposed to come in,” Niesen said. “He let me know and was like, ‘Hey, you ready?’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ I threw a couple warm-up tosses, and that was enough.”

Niesen promptly struck out Cole Petersen and induced groundouts from Nate Peters and Conner Griffin to end the game, setting down the top three in the Panthers’ order in the process.

“I asked (Niesen) if his arm was feeling good, and he said ‘Yup,'” Hannel said. “I was hoping Blake would finish out the seventh, but after those first two guys got on, it was going to be the fourth time they were going up against Blake, so I decided to make the change to Wyatt just so they could see something different, and Wyatt pulled through.”

The Panthers (6-9) made four errors that resulted in three unearned runs. 

“We actually fielded it fine. It was really our throws to first that got us and resulted in extra free runners for them,” Panthers coach Jordan Tenhouse said. “These turn into free runs. When that happens, you either have to outscore your mistakes or sometimes you end up on the wrong side of a tough loss.”