Panthers prevail

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

“With the Hibriten baseball team standing on the brink of elimination in the Catawba Valley Athletic Conference tournament, (Trent Reynolds) approached the plate with a chance to make a difference.” Reynolds dug in against the new pitcher, and, “after letting one pitch sail by, ripped a line drive over the center fielder's headŠ One batter later, Matt Edwards ripped a (hit) of his own, plating what turned out to be the game-winning run.”

Those words appeared in this space Saturday morning, though they could just as easily describe the events of Saturday afternoon. Once again, Reynolds and Edwards came through with key late-inning hits. And once again, those hits carried the Panthers to a come-from-behind, a one-run win. Only this time, it was on a bigger stage.

Hibriten topped St. Stephens 3-2 Saturday in the CVAC tournament final to capture its first-ever crown in the conference. Hibriten won the Southern District 7 tournament in 1996.

“This was a huge goal for us,” Panther starting pitcher Dylan Crump said. “So it was big to get this one down. Now, we've just got to keep it going in the playoffs.”

The win pushed Hibriten's record to 20-5 on the season, a school record for wins. The 1985 and 1991 teams won 19 games apiece.

Whereas Hibriten's crucial rally came in the sixth against Hickory, this time it came in the bottom of the fifth, with the Panthers trailing 2-1. With two men aboard, Reynolds' at-bat played out almost exactly the same way it had the night before.

The opposition brought in a new pitcher - just like before. Reynolds took one pitch - just like before. And Reynolds smashed an RBI-double to center field - just like before. This time it tied the game.

“He threw me a fat one, and I just tried to rip it,” Reynolds said.

One batter later, Panther second baseman Edwards found himself in another similar situation, with a chance to be the hero again. Edwards' line-drive single brought home the winning run (Brad Banks) for the second straight game.

“I just went up there trying to get him in again,” Edwards said.

Reynolds and Edwards had plenty of help this time, mostly from Crump, who tossed six and two-thirds innings and allowed only two runs. He gave up five hits and struck out five.

“Dylan is just an absolute competitor,” Hibriten coach Terry Henthorne said. “He is going to give you everything he has every time he steps out onto the ballfield. If he were out there coaching third, he'd coach his heart out.”

Bryan Tuttle came on to pick up the save when he retired the final St. Stephens batter of the night. It was the second consecutive relief appearance for the Hibriten pitcher who has racked up 10 wins on the season.

“It's a little bit different,” Tuttle said of relief appearances. “It puts some more pressure on you, but you still just have to go out there and throw it.”

Joel Woods and Jack Howard also chipped in with crucial hits in the game.

The Panthers will now await their first-round playoff opponent. The season is far from over, Henthorne told his squad after the game.

“There's a lot of corn to hoe and some field left to plow,” he said.