Centralia baseball hasn't let anything be discouraging this late in the year.

In the Panthers' regular season finale on Thursday, they defeated Montgomery County 7-6 at home despite falling behind 3-1 after three innings and losing three runners on the bases during the game. Centralia finished with 14 hits and scored three times via passed ball or a steal of home.

Centralia (11-13) lost a runner in the first inning after a leadoff hit from Tuckyr Pollock. It then had a runner thrown out at home and at third base on two separate occasions later in the game. Still, head coach Mike Rodgers said that didn't deter his kids.

"I was telling them after the game how they trusted the process out there even when we did go down," Rodgers said. "Some of that's me, I ran three or four guys off the bases. They don't get too up or to down. They just understand there are seven innings in the ballgame."

Senior Micah Danielson finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored, including the winning run on a passed ball in the sixth inning. Danielson scored his other run via one of two steals of home, and the other one was by Henry Bohlmeyer, who was 2-of-3.

Centralia came back from its 3-1 deficit to take a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning after Danielson stole home and Chase Kempker recorded a RBI groundout. Danielson said Montgomery (12-8) tying the game at 5 in the sixth inning didn't faze the team.

"Our team has a good, strong bond with each other," Danielson said. "Even if we're down or doing something else, I feel like we can really pick one other up. It's easy to do that when you have a strong bond in and outside of the sport."

This dynamic on the Panthers even includes Rodgers, the coach said, pointing back to Centralia's outs on the bases.

"This is a game of failure," Rodgers said. "When they fail, I really preach to these kids don't get down on yourself. A lot of that's me. I'm sending guys on tough plays, and hats off to the Montgomery guys who made the plays, but we want to continue to play aggressive."

Anthony Ford finished 3-for-4 as well and picked up two RBI. Pollock was 2-for-3 to give Centralia four kids with multiple hits. Luke Waltemate and Kempker each added a RBI.

The Panthers accomplished all of this at the plate despite seeing a new pitcher in just about every inning. Montgomery begins its district tournament on Saturday against Elsberry so it tried not to overwork one specific pitcher, running out five in the game. Centralia used four pitchers for the same reason so it knew to expect lots of different looks.

"They didn't want to use up a specific pitcher, and that's what happened to us last year," Danielson said. "It's weird facing a bunch of different kids because it's different speeds and different types of movements with the offspeed pitches."

Centralia has seen Montgomery in the regular season finale in now its previous three seasons.

"Everybody is the same boat. We all have districts coming up," Rodgers said. "This a team we usually play at this point every year so we see a lot of different arms. It's a good and bad thing. If you get used to a kid, you want to see him, but when they keep switching up arms, it make it a little difficult for our guys."

Ford, Pollock, Cole Higginson and Waltemate each covered at least an inning. Ford allowed one unearned run and struck out three in three innings, and Pollock pitched two shutout innings right after him, allowing one hit.

"Those are four guys we trust," Rodgers said. "Anthony and Tuckyr, it's basically getting work for them and getting ready for district play. We put Luke in that situation (7-5 lead in seventh) with a lot of pressure in a lot of games. He's a sophomore kid that's very even-keeled."

Despite the revolving door on the mound, Rodgers said his kids make good adjustments regardless of who was pitching. Now, he hopes the Panthers can adjust from their previous meeting with rival Hallsville.

On Monday, Centralia lost 7-6 in eight innings at Hallsville, taking a 6-5 lead that didn't last in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Panthers committed five errors to allow three unearned runs in that game but limited the defensive miscues to two against Mongomery. 

"We had a wakeup call this week on Monday night," Rodgers said. "Jordan Carmack does a great job over there as the culture's changing. They are a rival for us, but we have a respect for them as well. Our guys are getting focused and are playing really good baseball right now because of that."

Centralia plays Hallsville (7-21) at 6 p.m. Monday in the Class 4 District 8 tournament at Southern Boone in Ashland.

"This win really gave us confidence to go in Monday and go beat Hallsville," Danielson said. "I fully believe we can as we stick together as a team."