Lady Panthers honor seniors
Union County victorious in final home game of season
By TODD FORREST Sentinel Writer

Left: Lady Panther Seniors with Coach Stewart and Coach Cagle.

The Union County Lady Panthers (19-8 / 7-2) shut out Banks County 7-0 behind seven innings of no-hit ball from Senior April Harper. Kaley Sullivan, Kayla Gowder, Amanda Mason, Brittany Massey-Lentz, Courtney Watts, and Harper all played the final home game of their career and were honored after the game.

The Lady Panthers came out swinging in the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. Massey-Lentz drew a leadoff walk and later scored along with Sullivan and Gowder. Union County added five more runs in the bottom of the sixth with Massey-Lentz, Sullivan, Kristan Hamby (courtesy runner for Beltnick) and Courtney Watts all scoring.

The seniors drove in five of the eight Lady Panther runs. Sullivan was 1-4 with one RBI, Gowder was 2-4 with 3 RBIs, Mason went 1-4 and drove in one run, Massey-Lentz was 0-4 with two walks, Watts went 1-3, and Harper was 0-4 and picked up her 12th win of the season, striking out 13.

Coach Jessica Stewart says she has been impressed with this group of seniors, "They've shown great leadership. They have stepped up this year and provided most of our offense. This group, over the past two years, have been the most successful fast-pitch team in our school's history."

Sentinel photos/Todd Forrest Above: Brittany Massey-Lentz celebrates with family and the other seniors.

Last season these seniors were on the softball team that finished fifth in state. They finished with 25 wins, won four games in the State Sectionals, and finished second in Region 8AA.

Lady Panthers pick up wins over Rabun and Banks

Union County also picked up wins number 17 and 18 with a 3-1 victory over Rabun County, last Thursday and a 3-1 victory over Banks County on Monday. The game on Monday was a makeup game from Sept. 13th.

Brooklyn Swartz picked up her fourth win of the season in the victory over Rabun County and Billie Odom was on the mound in the victory at Banks County.

In the win over Banks County, Odom allowed five hits and struck out five. Kayla Gowder provided two of the Lady Panther's five hits.

Sentinel photos/Todd Forrest Kaitlyn Seabolt sacrifice bunts in the bottom of the first inning.

The Lady Panthers will travel to Fannin County on Thursday for their final regualr season game of the season at 5 p.m. Union County beat the Lady Rebels 15-0 when the two teams met back on Sept. 18th. The Region Tournament begins Tuesday, October 9th at Rabun County. The top four teams will play in the state sectionals.

Coach Stewart says she likes our chances in the Region Tournament. "Our chances of finishing in the top four and advancing to sectionals are pretty good. But we need to finish in the top three to keep from playing GAC in the first game of sectionals," she said.