No.1 Walters State picks up 16 hits in JUCO World Series win over McLennan

GRAND JUNCTION, CO – Holden Pantier was 11-12 years old the first time he came to Sam Suplizio Field for the JUCO World Series. 

An Erie, CO native, Pantier remembered thinking how cool of an experience the World Series was to him as a kid.

On Monday, Pantier got to experience how cool the World Series is as a player.

Taking on seventh-seeded McLennan, Pantier led top-seeded Walters State with four hits, one being a home run, and scored four runs. Pantier led an offensive attack that collected 16 hits, and the Senators picked up a 13-5 win in eight innings.

With the win, Walters State improved to 57-6-1 on the season.

"I thought it was the coolest thing in the world," Pantier said about his first time at the World Series. "It's special and a full circle moment seeing those kids in the stands and knowing that was me not too long ago. It's been a really neat opportunity." 

The biggest play of the game for Pantier came in the sixth innings with two outs and a runner on second. Pantier hit a ground ball to third base that was thrown away. Pantier went to second and was well on his way to third when the ball was thrown across the field and into the Senators dugout. Pantier never stopped running, scoring to make it a 10-4 game.

"I was just trying to make an at-bat out of it," Pantier said. "I knew I had to get down the line, and I went to second when they threw the ball away. I saw no one was covering third and I kept on running. Coach Shelton said keep on running, and I was like I don't know how much farther I can run but we'll see how far they take me. I think I ended up making it there." 

Along with Pantier offensively, Carson Cabbage and Taylor Harris each collected three hits while Harris and Jack Torbett drove in two runs each. Torbett had a triple, as well. 

On the mound, Aiden Robertson got the start and was excellent. Robertson gave up four runs early but settled down, making it through six innings. Robertson struck out seven to increase his nation-leading strikeout total to 122. 

The setting made Robertson's start even more impressive, as 11,808 people came out to watch Walters State and McLennan play on Monday evening. Despite that number of people, Robertson didn't have any nerves and embraced the moment. 

"Whenever I walked out in the first, I just looked out in the stands and embraced the moment," Robertson said. "You have to do that when you're facing a really good team and really good hitters. I just tried to embrace the moment and go out and try and do your best to dominate."

After Robertson, Reilly Byers entered and got two outs before Brayden Blankenship came in for the final 1.1 innings. Blankenship didn't allow a hit and struck out one. 

Much like game one, the Senators got down early against McLennan as the Highlanders scored a run in the top of the second. However, Pantier quickly tied things back up in the bottom half as he smashed a home run over the fence in left. 

Unfortunately for Walters State, McLennan added three more runs in the third inning. The damage could have been even more, but Jack Vogele made an unbelievable sliding catch in left field to get out of the inning and prevent at least one run from scoring. Vogele's catch was No. 4 on Monday's SportsCenter Top 10 plays. 

The score remained 4-1 until the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, Pantier led off with a single and Cabbage followed with a single. Both would come around to score one batter later to cut it to 4-3 as Walker Morgan reached on an error, and Morgan scored to tie the game when Jack Torbett laced a triple down the line in right. 

Walters State was not done in the inning, as Harris gave the Senators the lead with an RBI single. One more run came across later in the inning to make it 6-4 when Vogele grounded out to score Harris. 

McLennan tried to answer back in the fifth following a leadoff walk, but the Senators turned a 5-4-3 double play. The Senators added to their lead in the bottom half of the inning when Pantier singled and scored on a Torbett sacrifice fly that made it 7-4. 

The scoring continued for Walters State in the sixth, as Nate Conner walked and scored on a two-out RBI double by Tyler Myatt. Pantier was next up and his "little league" home run made it 10-4. 

McLennan picked up a run in the seventh on a bases-loaded walk and threatened for more with the bases loaded and two outs. However, Blankenship entered the game and got a comebacker to the mound that he tossed home for the force to get out of the inning. 

Following a run by Walters State in the seventh on a Kole Fenton RBI single, Walters State closed things out in the eighth on a Harris RBI single and Conner bases-loaded walk that made it 13-5 and ended the game. 

"It was about as resilient of a game as I have seen us have," Walters State coach Dave Shelton said. "We just battled and fought. Aiden did a tremendous job and really settled in. And our hitters did great top to bottom. They just battled and fought and did a good job." 

Up Next:

Walters State will be back in action at the JUCO World Series on Wednesday evening. The Senators will play the winner of Lake Land and Florence-Darlington at 7 pm MT (9 pm ET).