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With their toughest conference foes behind them, the Benton Panthers can focus on a deep run in the |
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Wednesday, 26 March 2008 |
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By Richard Duke Courier Sports Editor Not many people would consider a loss in conference to be a game that a baseball team can be proud of, but Benton head coach Mark Balisterri said that Texarkana's 11-9 win over the Panthers — their first this season — could be what propels his team to a state championship.
Benton (12-2, 5-1 6A-South) had already downed the defending state champion Razorbacks in the first of their doubleheader Friday, but Benton's ace Derek Jester was having a bad day on the mound, and the Panthers were down 11-4 going into their final at bat.
Getting out of Texarkana with at least a split was the focus all along, and a quick three outs would have sent Benton home with high spirits. But these Panthers don't give anything away.
The Panthers scored five runs in the seventh inning, mowing through three Texarkana pitchers, before eventually falling. The tying run was on second base when the final out was made.
"These guys never gave up, and that's something I am extremely proud of," Balisterri said. "We got banged around early, but we kept coming at them, and that says a lot."
The loss to the Razorbacks is the first to a team in Arkansas — the only other one came to Airline out of Shreveport, La. — but it is the last game Benton played before Spring Break. The Panthers will get a rare non-conference doubleheader Friday at home when they host Marion.
But Benton is now looking at the rest of the conference season, and it has to like what it sees. Lake Hamilton and Texarkana, two teams many believe are the cream of the 6A-South conference, are already off the Benton books, and the Panthers finished 3-1 against them. Conference games on the road at Parkview and Watson Chapel and at home against Sheridan and El Dorado. Balisterri's goal is always clear: Win at home and split on the road.
Honestly, a sweep of Parkview on the road would be more understandable. The Patriots are not in the same league as Benton, and the Panthers should be able to take care of business there. The biggest test remaining will most likely be against Sheridan on April 4.
The Panthers will be tested in key non-conference games as well against Pine Bluff, North Little Rock and Little Rock Catholic before jumping into the state tournament at Texarkana on May 9.
There is still some work to do, but Benton is starting to visualize a very special season.
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Razorbacks