FAIRMOUNT — Reality hit the Elwood baseball team three innings into Tuesday’s Central Indiana Conference opener, in the form of head baseball coach Adrian Heim.

With his team trailing 4-1 to CIC rival Madison-Grant, Heim conveyed a stern, yet simple challenge.

“I told the boys in the fourth inning, ‘if you want to win a conference championship, are we going to stumble right out of the gate?’” the coach said.

Moments later, the Panthers responded, scoring in each of the final four frames for a 7-4 victory on the road.

Jacob Dunnichay, who came into the game in relief, limited the Argylls to one hit through four innings, and both Nate Wills and Troy Worsley delivered critical home runs as Elwood extended its winning streak to seven straight.

“That’s something that’s great about this team. We’re all fighters. We have big hearts,” said Worsley, whose two-run home run in the fourth cut the lead 4-3. “Like tonight, we needed the big hits, and the seniors came through and Dunnichay came in and threw a lot of strikes to get us out of it.”

The home run was Worsley’s first of the season, and came via a seven-pitch at-bat against Argylls’ starter Austin Lee, who retired 10 straight after an RBI single surrendered in the first inning.

“He was a different pitcher,” Worsley said on Lee’s mastery through the first 11 outs before suffering the complete-game defeat. “He wasn’t overpowering. He just kept us off-balance, and then we started figuring him out late. We started hitting the ball hard.”

With two outs in the fourth, Wills connected for a single, setting up Worsley’s blast, which traveled more than 390 feet over the center-field fence.

In the fifth, the Panthers (7-1, 1-0) struck again with two outs as Aaron Klein tied the game, driving in Dunnichay from third base with a hard hit ball through the infield. Klein finished 3-for-4 with three RBI, also scoring Dunnichay in the first and seventh innings via an RBI single.

The Panthers logged 10 hits after back-to-back hitless frames in the second and third. They finished with 12.

Wills’ solo home run in the sixth gave the defending CIC champions a 5-4 lead, and three straight two-out singles in the seventh, scoring two, provided Dunnichay the cushion necessary to slam the door.

“It took us a few innings to get going, but I thought after the fourth we started to find our groove at the plate, and our pitching was there,” Heim said. “They’re a team that never quits. That’s a sign of a veteran team.”

Dunnichay struck out five in his longest stint this season. Primarily used as the team’s closer, Dunnichay made a case for more mound time, not allowing a runner past first base while needing 63 pitches for the win.

“I knew I had to get us going,” the right-handed junior said. “I set a couple down; our team gets up ... It’s just a matter of time.”