After falling 9-8 in the first game against Geneva, Opp picked itself up and beat the Panthers 17-6 in the second game Friday night.

With this win, the Bobcats improve to 18-8 overall, and 3-1 in Class 3A, Area 2. Opp holds the tiebreaker over Geneva with the second game win over the Panthers.

Opp head baseball coach Michael Cassady said winning the second game was crucial Friday night.

“We played a good baseball team,” Cassady said. “The kids played hard. We lost a heart breaker in the seventh inning of the first game.

“We just had to get rid of it, and go play the next game,” he said. “If we don’t win that, then Geneva wins the series against us. It was a big game for us.”

If Opp wins the rest of its regular season area contests, and Geneva wins the rest of its area games as well, then the Bobcats will win the area.

The Bobcats will travel to play Luverne in area action next Thurs., April 7.

Opp 17, Geneva 6

Opp’s Drew Smith was 3-for-4 and had two home runs for the Bobcats. Dilan Ziglar went 1-for-3; Trey Short was 2-for-3; Steadman Gerber was 2-for-4; Jantzen Flowers was 3-for-5; and Thomas Weed was 1-for-2 and had one home run.

Drew Smith pitched four innings, and Dane Buckelew pitched the last three for the Bobcats.

Geneva 9, Opp 8

Flowers was 2-for-4; Ziglar was 2-for-3; Russell Mosley was 1-for-2; and Buckelew was 1-for-2.

Mosley pitched four innings, T.J. Bess pitched two innings and T.J. Register pitched one inning.