The Ellsworth High School baseball team has allowed nine or more runs in three of its first four games this season, including a pair of Middle Border Conference contests against No. 5-ranked Altoona.

The Panthers’ opposition has regularly hung crooked numbers on the scoreboard in large part because of Ellsworth’s lackluster defense, which has committed errors in droves throughout the first two weeks of the season.

Ellsworth began the year with a promising 13-3 victory in the home opener against Cadott on Monday, April 3. Since then, the Panthers are 0-3 and have surrendered on average just over 11 runs per game.

The first of the three losses happened in the Middle Border Conference opener when Ellsworth hosted Altoona on Tuesday, April 11. The Railroaders routed Ellsworth 9-0 and then completed the season sweep two days later with a 12-4 victory over the Panthers in Ellsworth.

For Ellsworth head coach Brandon Voelker, who is in his second year as the Panthers’ skipper, defensive miscues have led to blow-up innings and lopsided results. He spoke of his team’s errors, particularly in the series against No. 5-ranked Altoona.

“We had them tied 3-3 going into the fifth and lost 12-4,” Voelker said. “We had one inning where we gave up five runs and that was all errors. It was just one big blow up inning. We had six errors where we just booted the ball around. They put it in play and we made mistakes.”

After the Panthers got swept by Altoona in the first conference series of the year, Ellsworth looked to bounce back against Spooner in a non-conference matchup at the Brown Sports Complex in Hager City on Friday, April 14.

Spooner jumped on Ellsworth in the top of the first inning. The Rails drew two walks and then singled to left field to load the bases with zero outs. Spooner found grass with a couple of hits that gave the Rails a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the first inning.

The Panthers responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to make it a 3-2 game. After a scoreless second frame, Ellsworth batters drew three walks to load the bases with zero outs in the bottom of the third inning.

Ellsworth’s ensuing batter got hit by a pitch with the bases juiced which scored a run and tied the game 3-3. One batter later, senior Tyler Boley ripped a two-RBI double down the left field line that gave Ellsworth a 5-3 lead after three frames.

The top of the fourth proved to be Ellsworth’s blow-up inning. Spooner batted around the order and scored eight runs as the Panthers struggled to find the strike zone and record outs. By the time Ellsworth retired its third batter, the damage had been done; Spooner had a commanding 11-5 lead.

“We just had that one big blow-up inning,” Voelker said. “Pitching struggled a little bit tonight too, and we haven’t had that issue this year. We’ve had a lot of pitchers throwing strikes and it’s been our defense that has lacked, but tonight the pitching department wasn’t great.”

Despite digging a massive hole, Ellsworth had its chances to climb out in the fourth and fifth innings. In both instances, the Panthers had the bases juiced with fewer than two outs and failed to get a runner home.

For coach Voelker, if his team hadn’t lost morale after his Panthers allowed eight runs in an inning, then stranding six runners total in the fourth and fifth almost certainly made any hope disappear. He spoke about that deflating feeling of squandering an opportunity to get back into the game.

“In the two innings after they went up 11-5 we had the bases loaded and didn’t score,” Voelker said. “We can’t let that happen. That really took the air out if it wasn’t out already. We’ve got to capitalize better on those opportunities.”

Spooner rode its sizable fourth-inning lead to a 14-5 victory over the Panthers. Ellsworth slipped to 1-3 this season with the loss and remained 0-2 in Middle Border Conference play.

In addition to the issues defensively, Ellsworth has also struggled to put the ball in play this year. The Panthers had one hit and 13 strikeouts on the road against Altoona on Tuesday. Two days later in the latter half of the season series, Ellsworth tallied just one hit and 11 strikeouts.

Even against an unranked Spooner team Ellsworth recorded just four hits and had nine strikeouts. For coach Voelker, those figures simply won’t get the job done this year.

“We didn’t see anything special and we had 13 strikeouts and one hit against Altoona,” Voelker said. “If we don’t put balls in play – you have to make high school kids make plays because they will make mistakes. We’ve got to get it in play.”

Given the early-season struggles both at the plate and defensively, Voelker isn’t ruling out making changes to the lineup. He spoke about freshmen and sophomores potentially seeing more action this year if things don’t turn around.

“We won’t coach effort and attitude,” Voelker said. “We’re in a spot where I won’t be shocked if we play more freshmen and sophomores. We have too much depth for people to not be competing for spots. I have no problem putting seniors on the bench if that gives us the best chance to win.”

Ellsworth is slated to be back in action in a Middle Border Conference game at home against Amery on Tuesday, April 18. The first pitch for that contest is scheduled for 5 p.m.