By Dylan Hefflinger

PERRYSBURG- Maumee kept their Northern Lakes League title hopes alive as the Panthers pounded out 13 hits in a 13-4 victory over Perrysburg on Friday.

Maumee, the 42^nd ranked team in Division I, showed a balanced offense as each starter got on base at least one time, eight of which had one or more hits.

However, the Panthers true strength came on the mound as Siena Heights' commit Billy Laranga was starting for the 1^st time in a while because of an injury. Laranga, a 6-0 right-hander, looked confident on the mound throwing four shutout innings allowing just two hits.

Laranga featured an 84-86 mph fastball that showed late life, running in toward right-handed batters. The fastball topped out at 88. Laranga had 10 strikeouts, while walking three.

The Panthers got their offense started in the 2nd inning when senior center fielder Evan Karchner blasted a home run. Laranga led off the 3^rd inning roping a double to the right-center field gap. Junior Steve Duby scored Laranga on an RBI single to make the score 2-0.

The Panthers dropped the hammer in the 4^th inning as Jason Blair, a Trine University commit for football and baseball, launched a home run to start off the inning. Karchner followed with a single and, after two ground outs, Laranda stepped to the plate roping an RBI single. A walk to the two-hole hitter brought Duby to the plate with two runners on and Duby came through with a two-run single and then came home on a RBI double by Kurt Weber.

It marked the end of the line for Perrysburg starter Mark Delas, a talented sophomore who was consistently in the low 80s with the fastball.

Junior right-hander Steve Duby got the nod in the 5^th inning with the Panthers up 7-0. The Yellow Jackets, rated 40th in Division I, showed some signs of life off Duby, who had a four-hit shutout earlier in the year against Perrysburg. Duby walked three of the first five batters, striking out the other two.

With the bases juiced and two outs, Bennett Westfall connected on a long fly to right field that just made it over the fence for a grand slam, cutting the Panthers' lead to 7-4.

However, that wasn't enough as Maumee rallied to score four more in the 6^th and two in the 7^th.

Duby finished the game with three singles and three RBI at the plate. On the mound, Duby closed the game out getting his six outs via the strikeout. Duby did allow four runs on three hits and four walks in his two innings.

Maumee (11-5, 6-2 NLL) travels to Toledo Christian on Saturday before hosting Southview on Monday, with the huge NLL match-up against No. 6 Anthony Wayne (17-1, 7-0 NLL) looming on Wednesday. Perrysburg (10-6-2, 4-4 NLL) hosts Napoleon on Monday.