A series to remember
Jared Putnam

Back to back to back to back wins. It's not a broken record, its just what the Lady Panthers did on Saturday, and they did it against some of the top teams in the state.

It's something that is probably best described as what someone at the game called it, the single greatest athletic effort that they had ever seen. I couldn't agree more and I don't think that is an overstating things.

Oh sure, the Boston Red Sox came back from being down 3-0 to beat the New York Yankees in the 2004 ALCS, but hey, even they didn't have to win all four games IN ONE DAY! The Lady Panthers did, and on that day I think they could have beaten just about anyone. No matter what happened, they kept firing on all cylinders. The opponents got a baserunner? They shook it off and worried about the next hitter. A bad call by the umpire? They used it as motivation to fire themselves up.

April Harper owned everyone she faced. After pitching a complete game Friday night, allowing one earned run (which, by her standards, is the equivalent of getting roughed up), she came back and hurled all four games Saturday, not allowing a single earned run and racking up dozens of strikeouts in the process. Incredible.

Even one game can be tiring, and you would think that before the end of that fourth game, the team would have run out of gas. Instead, they only seemed to get stronger and more determined to win as the day progress. Though nervousness and tension, all the hard work eventually turned into hugs, cheers, and tears of joy as the girls celebrated their record acheivement.

The tournament was great from a player's perspective, from a fan's perspective, and from a journalist's perspective. Being there for something like that gives you a great feeling.

It is rewarding to know that through photojournalism, you can capture once in a lifetime moments that athletes will be able to look back on years down the road. That maybe, one day, they will be able to show their own children a photo of a hit they had, a pitch they threw, or a ball they caught that was part of something very special. I would hate to have missed that.