Brookhaven’s Clint Stephens’ two-RBI single in the seventh inning lifted the Panthers past Long Beach 5-4 in game one Thursday night at Moyer Field.

“This was a great win for our guys,” said Brookhaven Coach Randy Spring. “The guys have work hard all season long, and we managed to capitalize on Long Beach mistakes to collect the win. I was very pleased with my guys’ efforts as they refused to give up and fought their way back into the game.”

The Panthers (8-13, 6-3) will travel to Long Beach today to take on the Bearcats in game two. Game time is at 6:30 p.m. If game three is needed, then the series will return to Brookhaven for a 2 p.m. start.

Brookhaven 5, Long Beach 4 

The Panthers and the Bearcats battled in a scoreless contest until the top of the fourth inning, when Long Beach managed to take a 4-0 lead over Ole Brook.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Brookhaven’s offense came alive as they battled back into the contest scoring three runs to cut down Long Beach’s lead to 4-3.

The Panthers’ defense turned up the heat on the Bearcats as they held Long Beach scoreless through out the rest of the game.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Panthers refused to go down without a fight as they battled Long Beach’s pitcher Bruce Mathes on every pitch. Brookhaven’s hard work at the plate help load the bases with two outs.

Clint Stephens managed to provide the game winning two RBI hit with two outs to give his Panthers the win and a 1-0 series lead.

Penn Wilson was the winning pitcher for the Panthers with four strikeouts and four walks.

Bruce Mathes suffered the lost for Long Beach with one strikeout and one walk. Josh Borzik (5K, 2BB) started for the Bearcats and Tyler Allen (1K, 1BB) also pitched.

Brandon Henyard was the top hitter at the plate for Brookhaven with two singles. Blaine Moak provided a double. Hitting safely were Scotty Bateman, Clint Stephens and Tate Walley.

Jack Scafide paced the Bearcats with three singles. Borzik had triple. Mathes provided a double. Ethan Sawyer, Jeffrey Decorte and Colton Tillman hit safely.