Panthers suffer tough loss

By Dustin Kent

Published: June 28, 2008

The Panhandle Panthers 12U squad suffered a 10-7 upset loss at the hands of Fossil Park Saturday at the state tournament in St. Petersburg.

It was a difficult loss for the Panthers, who entered the tournament with high expectations.

“Truthfully, our kids did not compete,” Panhandle coach Allen Childs said Saturday. “Maybe I didn’t have them prepared to play.”

It was certainly a game full of missed opportunities for the Panthers, who stranded 13 runners on the game and left the bases loaded in both the first and second inning.

The Panthers also made six errors on the day, which helped contribute to several of Fossil Park’s runs.

“There’s no explanation other than we weren’t prepared to play,” Childs said. “We’re very disappointed in our effort.

“You would think at this level that we would be understanding the atmosphere and be competing, but we just didn’t.”

Fossil Park plated five runs in the first inning to take a 5-1 advantage.

However, the Panthers trimmed the deficit to a single run with a three-run second inning to make it 5-4.

But Fossil Park answered back with three runs in the third and two more in the fifth to take a 10-4 lead.

Panhandle scored three more in the sixth, but it was not enough to avoid the loser’s bracket.

The Panthers, who play again today at 12 p.m. local time against Bill Bonds out of Pensacola, will now have to win four consecutive games to make the title game of the double-elimination tournament.

If the Panthers are to win today, they’ll have to put forth a much stronger effort, according to their coach.

“We just have to come to play is the bottom line,” Childs said. “We have to show up and play. If we come out with the same effort we had (Saturday), we’ll be coming back home.”

Josh Taylor led the Panthers offensively, going 1-for-3 with two RBI.

Hunter Jordan went 1-for-3, Trent Moats 1-for-2 and Peyton Dixon 1-for-3.

Dillon Bennett started and went two innings for Panhandle, giving up three earned runs.

But Childs said that Saturday’s loss was on everyone.

“It wasn’t one player, it was the whole team,” he said. “We just did not give effort.”
Bill Bonds fell to St. Petersburg Northwest 10-2 Saturday, but Childs said his team will not get an easy game today.

“They’re a scrappy team and they’re not going to lay down for us,” the coach said. “They always have good, solid, scrappy teams. They’re not going to come out and play like we did today, I promise you that.”

Childs said that Jordan would start on the mound for the Panthers today.
–––
The Panhandle Panthers 14U team also lost in state tournament action Saturday, falling 14-4 to St. Petersburg Northwest in Pensacola.

They play again today at 8 a.m., against Navarre.