ONEALS, CA (MPG) – Coming off their section championship win over Redding Christian back on May 23, the Panthers made their way to Oneals in Madera County on June 2 to take on No.1 seeded Minarets in the first round of the CIF Division V Regional Baseball Tournament where they fell 9-13 to the Mustangs.
No. 8 Maxwell made thing interesting early on in the contest, putting crooked numbers on the board in the second, third and fourth innings, but were shutout over the final three frames.
In his last game for the blue and gold, Luke Pearson made the most of the opportunity going 2 for 4 including a three-run home run over the left field fence and a total of five RBI on the day.
Fellow seniors Yahir Alcaraz and Macklin Kuska closed out their careers with a hit and an RBI apiece.
Junior Vincent Orozco went 2 for 4 at the plate, Colt Montgomery, another of the Panthers’ juniors, had a hit and drove in a run, while freshman Luka Benedet ended his first season for the Panthers with a triple and an RBI.
The loss marked the end of Maxwell’s season and with it an eight-game win streak, however having finished the year with an overall record of 22-8 and returning nine players off this season’s roster, look for the Panthers to be a contender again in 2027.