Panthers prep for region action
By JARED PUTNAM Union Sentinel Editor

Sentinel photo/Jared Putnam A.J. Jarvis fires the pitch against Gilmer County.

The Panthers suffered their first loss of the season last week, falling 8-1 to the Creekview Grizzlies. "We led most of it 1- 0," Head Coach Robby Roxbury said. "We started out pretty good, but just made a couple of mistakes that led to big innings. I think we were a little intimidated by them."

Union played a rematch with the East Hall Vikings over the weekend, a team the Panthers beat at home 6-5. This time it was East Hall coming out on top 2-1 in another contest decided by a single run. As in the game against Creekview, the Panthers led 1-0 on the Vikings as well, but Coach Roxbury said that a couple of baserunning mistakes cost the team in the end.

"It could have gone either way. We hit the ball fairly solid but just could not come up with a clutch hit," the coach said. "It was always [hit] right to somebody and we faced a guy that was offspeed all night. He worked backwards in the count."

The Panthers also had a tough matchup with Gilmer County, who defeated Union 10-2. "They just cleaned us up," Coach Roxbury said. "They kept the ball down and made some quality pitches and we didn't hit the ball effectively. They came out hitting the ball and we came out flat. That's something we have to look at and [improve on].

"We have lost our aggressiveness at the plate and that is mainly due to seeing so many offspeed pitches, because you have to keep your weight back. We have to get out of that routine and go back to attacking the fastball. We have to get our feet back under us a little bit and be more intense."

The Panthers only have three more games before Region action begins against Rabun County on March 15.