Union begins region games Thursday
By JARED PUTNAM Union Sentinel Editor

Sentinel photo/Jared Putnam Left fielder Ryan Burks loses his hat making a running grab during the Panthers first game against Gilmer.

The Panthers are set to begin region action Thursday, fresh off a pair of games that pitted them against AAA opponents in White County and Gilmer County.

Although both White County and Gilmer County prevailed, 8-4 and 6-4 respectively, both were competitive games that slipped away in the latter innings. With the exception of their first outing against Gilmer, the Panthers have held their own against AAA opponents this season, including a 6-5 win over East Hall.

Panthers Head Coach Robby Roxbury described these most recent games as more "spring training," and said that they have provided a good opportunity to see the type of high calibur arms Union will be facing this year. "White County is good," the coach said. "We want to play [teams like them] to see some better pitching. They had two guys that threw pretty decent. Their starting pitcher was effectively wild I guess you could say. You couldn't really dig in on him."

The Panthers still managed to establish a 4- 2 lead but couldn't hold on. "It was back and forth, it was a good ballgame. We kind of ran out of pitching toward the end and gave up a couple of extra runs. It was a pretty solid ballgame all the way around for the talent they had."

The Panthers then rebounded from a tough loss against Gilmer earlier in the season, holding their own in a tight game started by freshman Brady McCarter. McCarter was able to keep the ball down and pitch effectively.

"We cleaned up our act against Gilmer," Coach Roxbury said. "They beat us pretty handily the last time, but we came out ready to play this time. We haven't played Gilmer in five years, so it was nice to see somebody different, to see some different looks."

The game got off to a rocky start as Gilmer put three quick runs on the board. "We had a shaky first inning that really wasn't [Brady's] fault. We had an error that kind of cost us and they had a couple of base hits."

Union found itself facing a 3-0 deficit, but McCarter was able to handcuff the Gilmer offense after the first inning, allowing the Panthers to come back and take a 4-3 lead. Later in the game Gilmer managed to even the score 4-4, and tacked on two more runs to pull out a 6-4 victory.

With region action beginning Thursday against Rabun County, Coach Roxbury said that overall he is happy with where the team stands right now. "I'm pretty pleased with the way we're playing," the coach said. "We're coming out focused and determined. The games that we're losing, we're not getting killed. It's a break here or a break there, and its our game."