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Photo by Chris Wristen

Mill Valley freshman Ethan Appleby fires a pitch during the Jaguars' 9-5 victory over Basehor-Linwood.

The Mill Valley baseball team showed some early-season shakiness during its first game of a doubleheader Wednesday night against Basehor-Linwood, but by game two the Jaguars showed the late-season savvy that has helped them win six of their last eight games.

Basehor-Linwood capitalized on four errors and beat Mill Valley 4-0 in the opener, but the Jaguars regrouped and battled to a 9-5 victory in the nightcap.

“That second game we played a lot better,” Mill Valley coach Jeff Strickland said. “We shored up our defense and we did a lot better.”

Junior Curtis Peavler pitched a solid game in the opener. He scattered seven hits and four walks, but he didn’t receive the offensive or defensive support necessary to win.

“You’ve gotta give him credit,” Strickland said of Peavler. “He pitched a really good game. But when we commit six errors, you don’t deserve to win, and that’s what we did.”

The first error led to Basehor’s first run in the third inning. The second error helped the second run come across and make it 2-0 in the fifth inning. The final error allowed the last run to come across in the seventh.

For their part, the Jaguars had opportunities to score. They had seven hits — two apiece by freshman Ethan Appleby and sophomore J.J. Grovenburg — but left nine runners on base.

Appleby was on the mound in game two, and he was steady throughout. He also received offensive and defensive support. The Jaguars made the routine plays on defense, and the bats were hot.

Mill Valley strung together four hits in the first inning. The third — a short flare to left field by Chad Perkins — allowed two runs to score. Luke Lawyer followed with a base hit that plated Perkins.

Basehor eventually rallied and tied the game at 4-4, but the Jaguars responded and pulled away for the victory.

“It’s been kind of a pattern this year that we’ve taken a lead and allowed them to get back in and eventually defeat us, but tonight we answered them and fought back and won the game,” Strickland said. “That was encouraging to see.”

Mill Valley (9-9) closes out the regular season on Thursday with a single game against Tonganoxie at the Leavenworth County Fairgrounds. A victory could make the difference between being the No. 5 and No. 6 seed in next week’s Class 5A regional tournament.

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