By Allen Hamrick
The 2024 baseball season ended for the Panthers at Braxton last week. After coming off a win against Braxton County in the first game of sectionals, it looked as though the Panthers would have some momentum. The first game against Braxton was an easy one; the Panthers jumped on the pitching in the third inning and scored two quick points to break the ice. Braxton started lighting the bats in the top of the 4th and managed to get a run, but that was it. The pitching was outstanding by Noah Collins who allowed only three hits and a run with five strikeouts. On the offense side of the bats, it was Micah Osborne with the heavy hitting driving in six runs to lead the Panthers at the bat. All of that came in the bottom of the 4th inning when the bats erupted for the Panthers, and they scored 13 runs in the inning. Braxton, with one last chance in the top of the 5th, couldn’t score so the game ended with a Panther win. The final score was Panthers 15, Braxton Eagles 1.
Next up was Lewis County, and this would prove to be the Panthers’ waterloo. The Panthers played directly opposite of their previous game and were down by eight runs by the end of the 4th period. They needed some hits bad, but they didn’t come. The Minutemen closed the game with two more runs. The final score was Panthers 0, Minutemen 10. All in all, it was a good season with many great games won and lost. With that game, baseball and softball closes out for the 2024 year for the Panthers. When one looks back, there were some highs and lows as there are for most schools. The athletes gave a hundred percent and that is all the fans of this county expect.
