It was not the Starr’s Mill Panthers finest game, but it was good enough for another region win and the season sweep of their county rivals.

The Panthers struck first with an RBI from Miles Jaye on a bunt single in the first inning. McIntosh answered in the top of the second with Dwight Smith driving in two runs with a double. The Chiefs would add three more runs in the third inning, one on an error, one on a bases loaded walk and one more from Smith who finished with three RBIs on the night.

Starr’s Mill got three runs back in the bottom of the third when Jeff Stock drove in a run and was followed by a double from Ken Jackson that drove in two runs. Jackson finished with five RBIs on the night.

The Chiefs’ David Pauley led off the fifth inning with a solo home run and Eric Weiss drove in one more to give McIntosh a 7-4 advantage. That advantage was erased in the bottom half of the inning as Jackson, David Norman and Danny Beadling each drove in a run to tie the game.

Tyler Claburn came on to pitch for the Panthers in the sixth and shut down the Chiefs and Jackson drove in two more runs in the bottom of the inning to rally his team.

“He’s the hottest hitter we’ve got right now,” Starr’s Mill head coach Brent Moseley said of Jackson. “Almost all of his hits are clutch hits too.”

Norman added one more RBI to his totals and Claburn closed out the game thanks to a tremendous double play behind him in the top of the seventh.

“That’s a good McIntosh ball club and we came back on them twice,” said Moseley. “And our pitching held on long enough. Tyler Claburn did a great job tonight.”

Starr’s Mill (14-8, 10-3 region) takes on Westlake on Wednesday and McIntosh (12-11, 8-5 region) will host Fayette County on Wednesday night and Westlake on Friday.

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