RANGELY | The Panthers hosted the Basalt Longhorns in a 2A vs. 3A match in Rangely on Tuesday. The Panthers jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first two innings behind a strong pitching performance from junior Drew Brannan. The Longhorns took a 4-3 lead after the fourth inning. That did not last long though as the Panthers jumped to a 6-4 lead heading into the final inning. The Longhorns were able to put up four runs that inning to take an 8-6 lead. The Panthers kept grinding in the bottom half of the last inning but were unable to take back the lead and only scored one run to make the game 8-7 in favor of the Longhorns.
The Panthers were led offensively by junior Drew Brannan who went two for three at the plate with two RBI’s and fellow junior Stetson Cudo also added two RBI’s while going 1-3 with a walk as well for the Panthers.
During the second game the Longhorns scored first by putting up three runs in the top of the first inning and the Panthers were able to answer back with three of their own in the bottom half of the inning. The Panthers took the lead in the second inning when they scored one run to take a 4-3 lead. The Longhorns answered right back with eight runs that proved to be too much for the Panthers to overcome and the Panthers fell 11-8 after the game was called due to the lack of visibility.
The Panthers will take to the road this week to play in Aspen on Thursday, April 12 and Nucla and Dove Creek on Friday, April 13.
