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Maple City wins Game 1 of the 2018 ORWBL World Series in blowout fashion.
LA PORTE- The 2018 ORWBL World Series kicked off on Sunday as the defending World Series Champions played host to the first time National League Champion Granger Panthers.
Despite battling through injuries all season long, including the big one to their Captain, and reigning NL Cy Young Griffin Smith, the Granger Panthers found a way to get past both the New Carlisle Newts and the Twin Branch Billy Goats.
The Billy Goats took the Panthers all the way to Game 5 in the NLCS while Maple City cruised to a 3-0 sweep over the Hudson Lake Heat and have since had time to rest up.
Just one day after winning the inaugural Compete for Cody Tournament (in honor of Cody Strauch), the Panthers looked very sluggish in Game 1 as the Magic bats lit up the Panther pitching as they hit 13 Home Runs in Game 1.
Led by the 2018 American League MVP, Caleb Jonkman who went 5-7, the rest of the lineup followed suit as back to back AL Cy Young winner Wes Ellis belted 4 Home Runs while ORWBL and Hometown Cup Home Run Derby Champion Jared Jonkman hit 3 of his own, including a Grand Slam that put the game out of hand.
Shane Anderson also had 3 hits of his own, including 2 Home Runs while also playing stellar defense in the field. The Maple City 5 hitter, Drew Luther was the lone weak spot as he went 1-5 but he would certainly make his presence felt in Game 2.
Ellis and the Magic defense did a fantastic job limiting the Panthers to do much on offense as he held Granger to 7 runs in 6 innings and his defensive unit behind him of of Caleb Jonkman, Drew Luther, and Shane Anderson played a key role in that.
We now head in to Game 2 of the World Series where the Panthers will look to steal home field advantage away from the Magic.
