South Charlotte Panthers

The Panthers earned a sixth place finish in the AAU Junior Olympics to complete their summer 05 season. In hot and humid conditions in the Big Easy the CATS started out on a fast track by winning their first round pool 3-0 and then going 2-0 in the second round championship pool before dropping their first contest in the sixth game. The team opened the championship round versus the OTC Bearcats who we had beaten twice this season only to see their bats come alive and take a 7-3 win relegating the CATS to the back side of the bracket. We earned a hard fought revenge win versus the Tri State Arsenal who beat us in the championship last year and then dropped our final contest to place sixth. Game 1 SC Panthers 4 New York Gothams 3 WP: Josh Salay(6-1) Erik Sommerville SV(3) The Panthers came back for an exciting opening game win in our first ever game versus a team from NY and won their opener. Corey Norman supplied the firepower at the plate going 2-2 with a 2B and a 3B. Game 2 SC Panthers 3 Doyle Baseball 2 WP: Kyle Greenwalt(6-1) 10K In the most exciting play of the summer season, behind 2-1, Erik Sommerville with two outs and two strikes goes deep to LF for a triple and daring run home and diving slide to score the tying run. Josh Salay drives in Justin Schumer in the eigth to win the game for the CATS. Game 3 SC Panthers 4 Team Iowa 1 WP: Corey Norman(7-2) Corey Norman shuts down the Iowa team and supplies the needed offense with a 2 run HR. Game 4 SC Panthers 4 New Orleans Spice 1 WP: Zach Parmer(5-2) Erik Sommerville SV(4) The Panthers score 3 runs in the eigth to break a 1-1 tie and beat the home town favorites. Pitchers Zach Parmer and Erik Sommerville also supplied the offense with 2 hits each. Nick Verhein supplied the game winning hit with two strikes and two outs in the eigth. Game 5 SC Panthers 2 OTC Bearcats 0 WP: Justin Schumer(4-2) Behind Justin Schumer's two hit shut out the CATS beat the Bearcats 2-0. Whit Merrifield and Nick Verhein supplied key hits leading to runs. Game 6 SC Panthers 3 South Shore Seadogs 6 LP: Erik Sommerville(3-2) The Panthers fell behind early and could not catch up late in their first loss of the event. Brandon Stewart and Erik Sommerville both got two hits and Whit Merrifield hit a two run HR to get keep us close. Game 7 SC Panthers 3 OTC Bearcats 7 LP: Corey Norman(7-3) The Panthers lost to OTC for the first time in three contest in the first game of the Championship bracket. The OTC bats heated up and left the CATS in the dust in spite of an Erik Sommerville HR and multiple hit games by Whit Merrifield, Josh Salay and Justin Schumer. Game 8 SC Panthers 7 Tri State Arsenal 6 WP: Kyle Greenwalt(7-1) Justin Schumer SV(1) In a rematch of last years championship game and the rubber game with Tri State the Panthers earned a hard fought win and a touch of revenge. Whit Merrifield, Erik Sommerville and Josh Salay supplied the offensive fire power with Dean Boyle,Kolby Epley and Brandon Stewart also getting hits. Game 9 SC Panthers 3 CT Bombers 6 LP: Josh Salay(6-2) Josh fell behind early trying to find his control and the Panthers could not mount a serious comeback versus the Bombers. The Panthers finished the tournament 6-3 and placed sixth to achieve their fourth top 16 result in the past four years at AAU Nationals. Whit Merrifield and Erik Sommerville were chosen for the ALL Tournament Team for their play this week.

As we finalize team plans on each of the events this summer I will forward that information out to the team as soon as possible. Once every event is finalized I will send out a recap. EVENT: USA BASEBALL JUNIOR OLYMPICS WHEN: Travel Day – Friday, June 17 Tournament – Saturday, June 18 through Wednesday, June 22: Guaranteed 5 games. Thursday, June 23 through Saturday, June 25: Top 32 teams in single elimination format w/ guaranteed 2 games. WHERE: West Palm Beach, Florida Games played at Roger Dean Fields and Santaluces High School Complex TEAM: The team will be staying at the Residence Inn 2461 Metrocentre Blvd. West Palm Beach, Fla. 33407 Travel arrangements for the team have not been finalized. I anticipate a five car caravan or less cars/rented van for travel. Players may elect to fly down, that is OK, yet will be at their own expense and I must be notified in able to plan for all others. The players will be assigned to a studio suite with 2 other players and a coach or chaperone. CHAPERONES: Parent chaperones for this event: Veda Norman, Art Sommerville and Carl Parmer. Let me know if this has changed. PARENTS: West Palm Beach is a part of Palm Beach County Florida which includes an area from Jupiter Beach south to Boynton Beach. There are commercial airports in West Palm, Fort Lauderdale and Miami that are relatively close. Driving time will be 10 hours plus. Concorde Travel(concordetm.com)is the official travel agent for USA Baseball and their internet site has numerous hotel options if you choose to stay somewhere other than the team or would like an option closer to the beach area etc.. You may contact them directly to book and receive the USA rates which we found to be competitive with anything else. There are a number of other internet sites including expedia.com that offer many options. Parents, friends and families are ON YOUR OWN in making all reservations; the team will handle all player, coach and chaperone logistics only. Players who wish to stay or travel with families in lieu of the team’s plans must get approval. OTHER: I will be looking to fill the chaperone slots for the remaining events in the next few weeks. Let me know if you are interested in specific events. I am looking to fill the roles for: East Cobb- July 4 – 9( 3 chaperones); East Cobb- July 18 – 23(3 chaperones) and New Orleans July 29 – August 6(3 chaperones). Based on. Transportation-Ability to transport in a personal vehicle or drive a rental van with 3 or more players. Chaperones will have 2 or more players in their rooms. As an equal opportunity organization, moms wishing to chaperone will have respectful privacy but should be prepared to have multiple players in their rooms. I will fill chaperone slots as equally as I can taking into account the above factors. Cook, transport, clean uniforms, nurse, baby sit, scout opponents games, keep score and or anything else that comes up in the course of an event. Thanks for all of the initial interest in supporting the team. I am sure we will have needs at every event over and above those supplied just by the chaperones and I appreciate any and all of your support and help. Our goal on player accommodations this season will be to have suite type rooms with kitchen facilities and on site breakfast. The suite rooms will allow us to accommodate more than 2 players per room with air mattresses, spread us out and give everyone a bed. We will prepare a number of lunches and dinners in. Depending on playing schedules we hope to fill some of the down time with group activities such as beach outings, college campus tours and museums etc. We will try to point to either a Braves game or Amusement Park outing in Atlanta but will limit expense related outings versus educational and economical ones. All player, coach and chaperone cost will be covered by the team on travel events. Call or email questions. Don

What a run. Congratulations to all of the Panther players for a hard earned National Championship Runner Up finish. I am especially proud of the team, the players, the coaches and the fans for winning the National Sportsmanship award. The team has accomplished many of the goals we set out to achieve this season and these two rewards are some of the proof of those results. First let me say thanks to each and every parent and fan. Your support in all ways made this a great trip and one each of the players will remember for a lifetime. Everyone pitched in and did their part, but a special thanks to house captains Karen Shuey, Veda Norman and King Art Sommerville for their management of the beach houses, team dinners and player chaperones. Thanks to Veda Norman for all of the player transportation and the bookkeeping. The van will never be the same and continues to be the ride everyone wants. Ray Kinard for driving the team van, carrying equipment and being there for anything I needed. The Sommervilles and Kinards for hauling all of the extra baggage. To all of the moms for the daily laundry service on uniforms. To all the parents who supplied innumberable Gatorades to the players. To Laurie for all of the behind the scenes logistics work on houses, hotel rooms and all of the other dirty work I pass your way. To the dads who stepped in and helped with the fields and tarps. A quick recap of the games and our run to the championship. Game 1 vs. the Lansdale Lugnuts. The Panthers faced the best pitcher we have or would face in the form of Kyle Greenwalt. Josh Salay not only matched Kyle but bettered him to a 0-0 tie after 8 innings. Erik Sommerville(4-0) relieved Josh and picked up the win in the 11th inning. Justin Schumer led the hitters going 3-5 and scored the game winning run in the 11th. Preston Shuey recorded 8 P.O. at first and Chris Kinard made a run saving catch in RF. It would not be his last. Game 2 vs. the Ohio Warhawks. Corey Norman(8-1) stopped the Warhawks in a 9-2 win. Leading the Panther hitters were Kolby Epley 2-2(2B)Erik Sommerville with a 2RBI single and Alex Bebeau with an RBI single. The defense was error free with 2 double plays; one started by Josh Salay and the other turned by Whit Merrifield. Game 3 vs. the BTA from Pittsburgh, PA. The Panthers took a hard fought loss in 10 innings against the Pitt team. Starter Matt Sanders held the BTA batters in check until a 40 minute rain delay cooled him off and the BTA bats heated up. After coming back three times to tie the game the Panthers ran out of chances in the 10th inning and took the loss 10-8. Leading hitters for the Panthers were Justin Schumer 3-5 with 3 RBI. Josh Salay 2-4. Preston Shuey knocked in the game tieing runs in the 6th and Graham Fronk tied it with a hit in the 8th. In the first game of the championship pool and game 4 the Panthers thumped the eventual national champion Tristate Arsenal 8-2. After falling behind 2-0 the Panthers fought back for the big win. Justin Schumer(5-0) pitched all 7 innings scattering 5 hits while striking out 3. Justin initiated a momentum killing Triple Play with a diving catch of a sacrifice bunt and then forcing the runners at second and then first.Whit Merrifield keyed two other double plays in a big defensive effort. Chris Kinard stole a possible double in RF coming back off of an injured heel and Brent Lalas played a perfect game at third in the big win. Whit led the hitters with a 3-3 day at the plate followed by Chris Kinard 2-3 and Zack Parmer 2-2. Game 5 The Panthers shutout the New Jersey Elements behind a two hitter by Corey Norman(9-1). The defense again stood out with Justin Schumer and Whit Merrifield turning a doubleplay in addition to 7 other plays. The leading hitters were Kolby Epley 2--3 with an RBI and Erik Sommerville 1-2. Game 6 The Panthers beat the Virginia Riverdogs 3-2. Starter and winning pitcher Matt Sanders(6-1) was cruising along with a one run lead and a one hitter when in the 6th with a runner on base the ball left the yard for a 2 run homer. The Panthers fought back with two runs of their own on back to back singles by Justin Schumer and Whit Merrifield to take a 7th inning walk off win. Skip Hutchins knocked in the first run with a sacrifice fly and along with Josh Salay turned a rare 1B to 3B to 1B double play. Zack Parmer and Kolby Epley also contributed two hits in the game. Game 7 In the first game of the Championship Brackets the Panthers faced the Conneticutt Bombers and prevailed behind Josh Salay(5-0). Joshed pitched a one hitter, striking out 4 in the close 2-1 game. Chris Kinard 1-3 and Kolby Epley drove in the two Panther runs. The defense was again stellar with big plays by T. J. Freeman in CF, Skip Hutchins at 3B and with another double play Justin and Whit in the infield. Game 8 was the semi final versus the Strike Zone Mavericks. The Panthers jumped to a 3-0 lead only to see it go away in the 6th inning. Starter Justin Schumer gave way to Corey Norman in the 7th. The Panthers jumped back ahead 5-3 only to see the never say die Mavericks come back again. Graham Fronk ended a game ending threat with a perfect peg of the winning run at home on a hit to RF. In the 9th inning the Panthers scored on a lead off single by Corey a sacrifice by T.J., a bases loading walk of Justin and a sacrifice fly by Whit Merrifield. Corey(10-1) held the Mavericks in the bottom of the inning after a long running catch by Graham Fronk in RF. Leading hitters for the Panthers were Josh Salay 3-4 and Chris Kinard 2-4. Chris made another by this time patented run saving catches in LF. In the Championship and rematch versus the Arsenal the Panthers fell behind early 2-0 and could not find their bats against a strong Arsenal pitcher . The Arsenal tacked on 4 in the 6th before the Panthers had one last gasp in the 7th only to see a single run cross the plate before we ran out of outs. Chris Kinard led the hitters going 2-3. Congrats to the Arsenal on the win and a well played tournament. Again, Thanks to everyone. It is on to Atlanta for the Perfect Games Wood Bat Nationals. Good Luck to the Panther football players: T.J. Freeman and Chris Kinard at South Meck Graham Fronk at Charlotte Christian Skip Hutchins at Charlotte Country Day Alex Bebeau at Ft. Mill HS and Whit Merrifield at Davie County HS Once we return from Atlanta we I plan to schedule a team dinner out and then parents meeting to discuss the upcoming fall season. Coach Don