Panther Nine —Giving up the hits

aby David Tesitor
WALSENBURG, FOWLER — The John Mall Panthers continue to hit the ball well this season, but unfortunately they are giving up more to their opponents. The Cats went 1-3 during their last two outings.
Last week, the Panthers split a doubleheader with Manzanola. In the first of two games, the Panthers were tied 4-4 in the fourth until a three-run inning gave the Bobcats the lead which they held until the top of the seventh. John Mall tied the score with a three-run inning, but gave the game away in the bottom of the seventh. When the dust settled, the Panthers lost 9-8.
According to Coach DeHerrera, “We played well in the end. We had two errors and they had one. That was the deciding factor.” John Burch had two singles in the game; Zach Harriman had a single; MichaelRyan Griego hit two singles. Jacob Wiggins had two singles and a double and Justin Eccher hit a double.
In the second game, the Panthers came back to win 12-9 off an explosive first two innings where the Cats scored nine runs. They continued to score in the next two innings, while their pitching and field play held the Bobcats at bay. John Mall continued to hit well as Griego came up with three singles and Eccher had two doubles. John Burch also had two singles.
On Saturday, the Panthers had a league encounter against the Fowler Grizzlies, losing the doubleheader 18-4 and 22-9.
In the first game, the Panthers’ only scoring came in the first inning. From there, too many errors and poor pitching allowed the Grizzlies fourteen hits. The game was called in the fifth because of the ten-run rule.
The second game was full of offense. John Mall opened the game with a seven-run first inning, including a grand slam home run by MichaelRyan Griego before the side was retired. The Panthers’ good field play allowed only two Grizzly runs in the first, but as the second inning began, Fowler exploded with eight runs to take a 10-9 lead. The Panther pitchers had a hard time controlling the ball, and Fowler continued to score twelve more runs in the final three innings. The Panthers gave up fifteen hits in that encounter.