Photo by Victor Tapia
Panther Burt Wilson keeps his eyes on the ball during
an at-bat earlier in the season in District 13-3A play.
Wilson had a double in the 13-2 win April 20 over
Quinlan Ford. The Panthers tied for second with
Farmersville at 7-3.

Panthers head into playoffs as third seed

By David Jenkins
Staff Writer

The Panthers are set to make their third consecutive trip into the Class 3A Region II playoffs.

“This is do-or-die time,” head coach Richard Boring said. “We need to get off to a good start in all the games, have no letdowns or give up big innings.”

Princeton finished the District 13-3A season last week on a pair of victories, beating Quinlan Ford 13-2 April 20 at 13-2 and Community (20 -0 April 23.

“We took care of business in the last week against both teams,” Boring said. “Not to take anything away from those teams, but those are the games that we are expected to win, and we did.”

They ended tied for second with Farmersville at 7-3. Following a coin flip, the Panthers will enter as the third seed.

Taking the top spot was Lovejoy (10-0), and rounding out the standings were Emory Rains (3-7), Community (2-8) and Quinlan Ford (1-9).

Princeton  opens the postseason facing the second-place team from 14-3A. The bi-district round is slated to begin May 8. 

As of April 12, there was a three-way tie for first in 14-3A with Wills Point, Canton and Eustace each being 7-3.

If things were to stay the same there would be a tournament to determine which team is the first-, second- and third-place seed.

(Once information is released on the Panthers first-round playoff opponent it can be found at www.princetonherald.com.)

For the Panthers to win the playoff opener Boring said they must execute in pitching, fielding and hitting, in addition to doing the little things well.

Against Quinlan Ford, the Panthers had nine hits and surrendered five.

Quinlan Ford committed 10 errors, while Princeton had just two.

Connecting for extra-base hits were Noel Nevarez, Matt Wingo, Colton Boddy and Burt Wilson, who each had a double.

Picking up the decision was Josh Molina.

Princeton finished the district season with a 4-1 mark in the first round and a 3-2 record in the second half.

They picked up wins over Emory Rains (21-0 and 11-0), Farmersville (3-2), Quinlan Ford (pair of 13-2s victories) and Community (10-0 and 20-0).

The defeats came against Lovejoy (5-0 and 8-3) and Farmersville (6-2).

Last season the Panthers entered as the No. 3 seed out of 13-3A.

They defeated Mineola (3-2, 2-4 and 11-1) in bi-district play, had a bye in the area round, beat Farmersville (10-0 and 11-5) in the regional quarterfinals and Celina (4-1, 3-5 and 6-3) in the regional semifinals.

The Panthers  then fell  4-3 and 14-1 to eventual state semifinalist Texarkana Pleasant Grove. 

Subvarsity report
The junior varsity Maroon team rolled over Quinlan Ford 15-9 and Community 12-4 last week in district competition.

The winning pitcher against Quinlan Ford was Josh Kohrs and Holton Holland got the decision against Community. 

Casey Boatwright closed out the Braves’ game with the save.

The Black squad fell to Lovejoy Red 6-3 in the final game of the season.