South Charlotte Panthers

MAT BATTS has signed to attend school and play baseball for WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY next season. Mat joins the Catamounts following his prep career at Mt. Tabor High School where he was the CPC Conference Player of the Year and a three time all conference selection. Mat likely holds the unofficial record for most starts and victories in Perfect Game World Wood Bat events having attended tournaments with the Panthers since he was 15 and pitching in as many as three events in a season a couple of times. I do know Mat has never lost a Panther game in Atlanta. Mat will be competing for the SCP 2009 team this week in yet one more PG WWBA event as they begin play next week.

Congratulations to Mat and his family Monica; Jimmy and brother Daniel on this exciting news!

PANTHERS WIN GOLD AT THE NC STATE GAMES  !!!!

Congratulations to Panthers - Trey Laney; Ryan Butler; Eric Brenk; Jake Watson; Brian Holberton and Ty Linton who were part of the Region 6team that won the gold medal at this weeks NC State Games held at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Maverick Miles (Fall 2008) and Preston Troutman (Fall 2009) were also members of the winning Region 6 team. Logan Ratledge was selected to participate but was on injured reserve for the games.

SC Panthers  Week 5 schedule.

 Thursday   June 25   vs. World Yacht Club Clippers   7:30p   Winthrop  University    Uniform: Grey; Red; Black; Black; Black

WIN   SCP  14      WYCC  4    Kyle Kessler earns the victory.

Friday   June 26  vs. South Florida Bandits  4:30p  Wofford University  Uniform: White; Black; Tri; Red; Red

WIN  SCP  2     SFB  1     Patrick McMahon gets the win; Kurt Semeniuk gets the save getting two outs with the tieing run on third. Brian Holberton drives in the winning run with a double. 

Saturday  June 27  vs. East Coast Greys  4:30p  USC Upstate   Uniform: Grey; Red; Black; Black; Black

 Sunday  June 28  vs. Chatanooga Cyclones  5:30p   Clemson University  Uniform: White; Black; Tri; Red; Red

Sunday  June 28  vs. Knoxville Thunder  8:00p   Clemson University  Uniform: Same

  Game 1   

SC Panthers    11...............................................11.....17.....0

S FL Snappers   8................................................8.....14....3

The Panthers got an early lead 1-0 then fell behind the hard hitting Snappers 1-5. The Cats first fought back and then broke out ahead 11-5 only to see the Snappers put a last inning scare in a 11-8 victory. Starting pitcher and winner Nick Silva (4-0) pitched four innings; giving up 5 runs. Lou Trosch quieted the Snapper bats for two but got in a jam in the seventh. With the tieing run on first base Scott Leonard got three straight outs to earn the save.

The Panther hitters were led by RF Zach Lax going 4 for 4 with 2 RBIs and a run scored. Bull Barber was 3 for 4 with a double and a triple that just missed getting out on the major league field. David Daniels went 2 for 4 with a double. Bradley Morton went 2 for 4 with a triple and Elliott Fowler went 2 for 3 with an RBI. Jake Fincher; Peter Hendel; Taylor Reeves and Blaine Lewis each had a hit in the 17 hit game.

The Panther defense played error free.

Game 2   

SC Panthers   6........................................................6.....10.....1

Triple Threat  8.......................................................8.......9.....2

The Panthers let a 6-1 lead get away in the bottom of the sixth inning when Triple Threat broke out for 7 hits and 7 runs. Starting pitcher Tyler McCarthy pitched 5 strong innings before giving way to Peter Hendel with the tying runs on base. Hendel gave up 3 and took his first loss of the year.

The Panther hitters left 11 runners on base and it came back to hurt in the end. The Cats collected 10 hits including Peter Hendel 2-3 and Jake Fincher 2-5. Other Panthers getting hits were David Daniels; Bradley Morton; Blaine Lewis; Jacob Barber; Brett Lang and Zach Lax.

Game 3

SC Panthers   1..................................................1.....8.....7

Katy Sting (TX)  7.............................................7.....6.....0

 The Panther defense committed 7 errors with 5 coming in a disasterous 3rd inning and put themselves in a big hole for possible advancement in to the championship round in the USA Nationals. Starting pitcher Taylor Reeves pitched 5 and a third; gave up 4 his while striking out 6 but took the hard luck loss with the pourous defense.

Brett Lang 1-2; Jackson Campana 1-1 and Blaine Lewis 1-2 led the Cats offense.

Game 4

SC Panthers   10..............................................10.....10....1

Ft. Bend Texans  4............................................4.....10.....2

The Panthers hold on for a possible advancement to the championship round with a 10-4 victory over the Texans. Starting pitcher Scott Leonard (2-2) pitched four solid innings before tiring in the Florida heat. Lou Trosch closed the door for 3 innings to earn his second save on the season. The Cat bats stayed hot and scored 10 runs. Leading the hitters were Blaine Lewis 2 for 3 with a double, a triple and 2 RBIs; Jake Fincher 2 for 3 with a double and 2 RBIs; Peter Hendel 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored and Elliott Fowler 2 for 3. The Cats continued their torrid base running with 9 steals including 2 each from Bradley Morton and Jake Fincher.

Game 5 will be Tuesday for possible advancement into the round of 32.

Game 5

SC Panthers   2...................................................2.....8....0

Orlando Reds   1.................................................1.....7.....2

Peter Hendel pitched a complete game giving up one run in the first and then holding the Reds the rest of the way until the Panthers could rally for two runs in the sixth. Peter hit a triple to lead off the sixth and was driven home by a Bull Barber sacrifice fly. Blaine Lewis walked and came in to score after singles from Jake Fincher and Elliott Fowler put him at third and pinch hitter Brett Lang got him in with a sacrifice fly. Leading hitters were Elliott Fowler 2 for 2 with a double; Jacob Barber 2 for 2 and Peter Hendel 1-3 with a triple.

The Panther offense played their fourth of five error free games and turned 3 double plays including a game ender when CF Bradley Morton chased down a deep drive and doubled the runner off of first.

 Game 6

SC Panthers   5.....................................................5.....12.....4

S. Fla. Elite   8.......................................................8.......4......0

The Panthers fell in the championship round of 32 to the unbeaten #2 seed South Florida Elite. The Cats out hit the Elite 12 to 4 but took it on the chin due to errors and base on balls. Starting pitcher Nick Silva (4-1) took the loss. Leading hitters for the Panthers were David Daniels 3 for4 with a double; Bradley Morton 2 for 4 with a triple; Blaine Lewis 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs and Brett Lang 2 for 3 with 2 doubles.

The Cats consolation game was rained out and the team returned home Friday night.

The 2011 SC Panthers head to Jupiter, Florida in week 4 where they will compete in the USA Baseball National 16U Tournament. Game schedule and results will be posted as soon as possible.

 Congrats to 2011 Panther JAKE FINCHER who was voted the Most Outstanding Player Award at the 2009 Futures Battle of the Border game his week.