South Charlotte Panthers

The SC Panthers won the first game of pool play versus the SW Florida Twins 5-3 in Jupiter, Florida at Roger Dean Baseball complex. Starting pitcher Erik Somerville (4-1) pitched 4 innings of 3 hit no run ball. Michael Caldwell earned his second save with a 7th inning close. The Panther offense started out hot with 5 runs in the first two innings behind a 2 RBI trple from Chris Kinard and a 2 RBI inside the park HR by Tyler Vogler. Other Panthers getting hits were Erik Sommerville, Corey Norman, Kolby Epley, Skip Hutchins and Preston Shuey. Graham Fronk added an outfield assist to keep a run from scoring and allowing Kolby to pick him off at third. In game 2 the Panthers gave up 5 runs in the fourth and could not stage a come back in a 5-2 loss to the All American Baseball Academy. Starter Michael Melton took the loss giving up 3 earned runs while striking out 2 in 4 innings. Nick Fogleman finished the game with 3 innings of scoreless relief. Leading hitters for the Panthers were Chris Kinard 2-3(3B); Preston Shuey 2-2 and Michael Melton 2-3. Others getting hits were Kolby Epley and Erik Sommerville. Game 3 saw starting pitcher Skip Hutchins throw 5 innings of shut out ball with 6 strike outs in a tie game. The Panthers gave up 3 runs in the sixth with Whit Merrifield taking the loss in relief. Leading hitters for the Panthers were Michael Melton 2-2; Nick Verhein 1-1 and Zach Parmer 1-1. Others getting hits were Preston Shuey, Erik Sommerville and Kolby Epley. In the first round of the playoffs the Panthers held off a last inning comeback with some great defense and beat Boynton Baseball 5-4. Corey Norman picked up his team leading sixth win with no losses with 6 innings of work, striking out 8. Nick Fogleman came into the game in the seventh and earned the save but not before SS Skip Hutchins made the second out on a slow roller and close play at 1B and then with the tying run on 2B there was a sharp hit to LF and Byron McKoy threw the runner out at home with a perfect strike. Leading the hitters were Whit Merrifield and Michael Melton with two hits apiece yet the big blow was a bases clearing triple by Preston Shuey. Other Panthers geting hits were Byron McKoy, Tyler Vogler, Erik Sommerville and Chris Kinard. In back to back games in the Florida heat the Panthers took a 3-1 loss to Hammer Time. Starter Kyle Greenwalt took his first loss of the summer after giving up three runs in the third and the Panthers could not mount a come back. Kyle struck out 5 but struggled with control walking 4 and hitting 2 Hammer Time players. Getting Panther hits were Preston Shuey, Justin Schumer and Whit Merrifield. The Panthers experienced one of their most exciting games ever when after falling behind 5-0 in the first inning they fought their way back to take the lead in the sixth only to lose the lead again requiring a seventh inning come back. In the 8th inning the team scored a run and advanced to the round of eight. Starting pitcher Justin Schumer gave way to Zach Parmer who stopped the bleeding and held the Austin RBI team in check for 3 innings giving up 1 hit and no additional runs. Mike Caldwell relieved Zach and held the game in check for 2.1 innings with 3 strike outs but faltered in the 7th giving up the lead to the aggressive Austin team. Erik Sommerville in relief of Mike picked up the win but not before the anxiety of loading the bases giving up two hit plus two hit batters before closing the door. In the top of the 8th, 2B Whit Merrifield and SS Justin Schumer turned an inning ending double play. Then with the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning Nick Verhein drew a walk to score the winning run. Leading the Panther hitters were Byron McKoy 3-4 with a monstor 3B; Michael Melton 2-4; and Nick Verhein 1-3 with a 2B. Others getting hits were Whit Merrifield and Tyler Vogler. In the round of 8 teams the Panthers lost to Boynton in their third match up of the event 4-1. Erik Sommerville continued on from the earlier game and took the loss with 5 innings pitched, giving up 3 runs. Chris Kinard had two hits; others getting hits were Michael Melton, Justin Schumer, Byron McKoy(3B) and Whit Merrifield. Corey Norman, Mike Caldwell and Skip Hutchins led the pitchers for the week with Corey picking up his team leading 6th win and adding to his team leading strike out total with 8 in the first game of the championship play off round. Skip started and pitched 5 innings of no run ball, striking out 6 and Mike earned a save to go along with a strong 2 plus outing to help hold onto the Panthers third round win. Defensively the Panthers played well with excitng (OF) assist throws by Byron McKoy(2), Graham Fronk and Chris Kinard to get runners at the plate. Skip Hutchins and Nick Verhein supplied solid defense in the (IF) and catcher Kolby Epley had multiple solid games behind the dish in the searing Florida heat. The offense was led by Michael Melton (9-19) who is coming into his own off of his hand injury and Preston Shuey (7-19), who continues to hit the ball well. Byron McKoy has begun to contribute with 5 hits in 23AB with 2 long triples to end the week. Chris Kinard ended the week (7-19) and added to his team RBI lead. The Panthers end the summer portion of the season in Raleigh at the Impact Wood Bat World Series event. The team will be looking to send off the five college bound Panthers with a championship in their final summer event. Erik Sommerville, Justin Schumer, Zach Parmer, Josh Salay and Nick Fogleman.

Panther infielder Whit Merrifield has committed to play baseball for the University of South Carolina. The USC Gamecocks are in the Eastern Division of the powerhouse SEC Conference and one of the nations premier programs. Whit will become a Gamecock beginning in the 2008 baseball season after completing his senior year at Davie High School. Congratulations go out to Whit and his parents Bill and Kissy.

The Panthers completed pool play 3-2 and did not advance to the championship bracket.

The Panthers completed play in the WWBA 17U Nationals by advancing to the round of 16 before being eliminated by Hammer Time Baseball. The team was 5-2 for the week.

The Panthers beat the Diamond Devils 16-2 at Sarge Frye Stadium on the campus of the University of South Carolina to take the championship of the Perfect Game BCS Regionals. The win qualifies the team for the BCS Nationals later this summer in Jupiter, Florida.