Pitching and defense have been a consistent bugaboo for Portal this season, and it reared it’s head in one of the worst possible moments for the Panthers Friday night in a 14-6 loss at the hands of Johnson County.
    Portal had clung to a 6-5 lead since the top of the fifth inning, and nearly lost it in the bottom of the sixth when Johnson County had runners on first and second with one out.
    Portal pitcher Jake Brown forced a pop fly to to centerfield — allowing the runner on second to tag up to third. That runner proved to be the tying run in a game Portal desperately needed for the power rankings. However, on appeal it was deemed the runner never stepped on second — so he was called out at third. Brown was able to secure the last out without anymore damage to get Portal out of the inning.
    “At the time that was a big play,” said head coach Dennis Moore. “Johnson County is always a quality team and that was a big game for us.”
    However all of those efforts would be negated in the top of the seventh inning when Johnson County doubled to leadoff the inning, followed by a bloop single over the head of the third baseman to allow the runner to score from the second and tie the game.
    However that was only the beginning of what would soon become a nightmare inning for the Panthers.
    After pitching a solid two innings prior — Brown failed to record an out for the next seven batters. Brown would walk the next batter in what was then a 6-6 game, then give up three straight singles — all ground balls — to give Johnson a 9-6 lead. But the real back breaker came when Duren Wood squared up a 3-0 pitch and bombed it over the centerfield wall into the ditch behind the fence — a clear 360 feet from home plate.
    Cody Clark came in for mop-up duty, but he’d give up two more runs before finally recording three outs and ending a devastating inning for the Panthers. Portal’s pitching has let them down before this season, but never in such a situation where they were three outs away from beating a team with a winning record.
    “The four of those first five balls for Jake were grounders, and we just didn’t have a play on them,” Moore said. “Sometimes the ball bounces your way and they just didn’t go in our direction tonight.”
    Portal’s lead seemed so secure in the bottom of the fourth when Jamal Simpkins muscled a 1-0 pitch over the right field wall for Portal’s first home run of the season and the first dinger of his career. The solo shot made it a 6-4 game and at the time had Portal flying as high as they have this season especially after putting up a five spot in the second inning.
    The Panthers benefited from two Trojan errors to go along with a double by Simpkins and a pair singles by Clark and Fischer Oglesby to respond to a two-run frame posted by Johnson in the top half of the second. With the bats working and starting pitcher Landon Stephens in control, Portal just didn’t seem like a candidate for a meltdown Friday night.
    The loss washed over successful nights at the plate for Simpkins, Oglesby and Clark — who each had two hits. Clark and Simpkins would earn the only RBI for the game as the errors in the second were largely responsible for Portal’s run production.
    “We wanted to make sure we told the boys they didn’t blow anything tonight,” Moore said. “Tonight just wasn’t our night.”
    Portal (2-9) will hit the road tomorrow afternoon when they face Lincoln County at 5:30 p.m.