Pangallo has started every game during his four years at Centre, but his streak is actually longer than that, stretching all the way back to the start of his sophomore year at Newport Central Catholic High School.
"I'm very proud of that," he said. "I've been fortunate enough not to have any major injuries, and I hope that continues."
"I don't ever have to worry if he's ready to play"
Pritchard, Centre's coach for the last two seasons, said Pangallo's spot is one he never thinks twice about when filling out his lineup card.
"I don't ever have to worry if he's ready to play," Pritchard said.
Pangallo has made things easy for his coaches by never taking it easy on the field.
"Even though I feel comfortable (in the lineup), I still try to come out hard every day and compete," he said. "I always feel competition, even when there's nobody out there."
Pangallo won the job as Centre's starting shortstop as a freshman after a senior who held the position was moved to another spot, and he said he felt his intensity and his focus served him well then as they usually do now.
Through 20 games this season, Pangallo is hitting .284 and leads the team with 24 runs scored. He batted over .320 in each of the last two years and is a career .289 hitter.
He was a first-team all-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference selection as a sophomore and earned honorable mention last year. He has earned academic all-conference honors in each of the last two years and is a team co-captain for the second straight year.
Pangallo wears a few other hats, too. For three years, he has also been a fixture behind the wheel of the tractor when the players tend to the field before and after games and practices.
He also has a work-study job in sports information under Pritchard, who is also the school's SID, where he does everything from keeping statistics at football and basketball game to writing stories that appear on Centre's Web site.
Plans to stay involved with baseball
The Cold Spring native has just taken a job with a Covington consulting firm, and he said he plans to stay involved with baseball as well, perhaps coaching at the high school or college level.
The emotional Pangallo is already a leader, and Pritchard said he and pitcher Joe Mitchell, the only seniors on a 26-man roster that includes 19 freshmen and sophomores, have been invaluable this season.
The Colonels have been inconsistent throughout the season - "We haven't been able to put a full game together yet," Pritchard said - but they have been in nearly every game they have played.
"Our team's showed a lot of heart, staying in games throughout," Pangallo said.
The Colonels scored five runs in their final at-bat to win the first game against Maryville 11-10, then jumped out to a rare 8-0 lead in the second game en route to an 11-5 win.
They hope that will give them momentum going into the second of four critical Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend series Saturday and Sunday at Rose-Hulman.
They split their first four league games last weekend against DePauw, and their first goal is to win enough games to qualify for the conference tournament next month.
"For four years now we've been trying to get to the conference tournament," Pangallo said. "Our biggest goal is not only to get there, but to go and actually compete."
Late rally wins first game
A Maryville error allowed Centre (9-11) to push the tying and winning runs across with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning in the first game Wednesday.
Centre left 11 runs on base in the first six innings but moved runners at will in the seventh. Singles by Chase Ezell, Eric Moore, Jake Jones and Brandon Rosen produced three runs and set the stage for the winning play in which Andy Placido's bases-loaded ground ball got through shortstop Nathan Nehf, allowing Andy Greer and Jones to score.
Maryville (9-19) led 4-0 after half an inning and scored four more runs after the Colonels tied the game at 6-all in the fourth. Moore was 4-for-5 with three runs for Centre; Jones was 3-for-4 with three RBIs, two of them on his seventh-inning hit; and Placido was 2-for-4.
The momentum from Centre's comeback win carried over into the second game, when the Colonels scored five runs in the first inning and three more in the second. They led 11-3 after four innings.
Moore was 3-for-3 with a second-inning double and a solo home run in the third. Kyle Barnette had a two-run double in the first inning and went 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
Winning pitcher John Karnes allowed two earned runs in four innings.
