Panthers perfect at CVAC midpoint

The Hibriten Panthers have come a long way in a year.

The same team that stood 4-4 at the midway point of Catawba Valley Athletic Conference play one season ago capped a perfect first half Wednesday with a 9-2 drubbing of Hickory. One cycle through the CVAC, the Panthers are 9-0 (11-1 overall).

“We take a lot of pride in it,” Hibriten third baseman Joel Woods said. “We are a really tightly knit group, more of a family than a baseball team. We just love to play together. So it's been fun, doing this well.”

Panther coach Terry Henthorne allowed the team a chance to take in its recent successŠ for a few hours.

“(Going undefeated) is big,” he said. “But we're not going to celebrate past tonight. We know there are a whole lot of games to go, and there are a whole lot of people who would like to beat the Panthers. “

Hibriten's Wednesday win - its eighth straight - was a microcosm for the first half of the season; strong pitching, timely hitting and solid defense once again lifted the Panthers in a balanced effort.

Woods and Trent Reynolds paced the offense with three hits apiece, Matt Edwards and Dylan Crump steadied the defense with spectacular plays in the field, and Jon Easton's “wildly effective” approach on the mound did the rest.

“I'm real pleased,” Henthorne said. “I put a little call out there, and they answered it.”

Easton seemed to get better as the game went out, shaking off five wild pitches, two hit batsmen and four walks to earn the win. He struck out five and allowed only four hits in his 94-pitch, complete-game effort.

“Jon did a great job on the hill,” Henthorne said. “Wildly effective - I'm going to say that might be one of his attributes. It's pretty hard to dig in against him up there.”

Easton gave most of the credit to the defense behind him.

“That's probably the best defensively we've played all year,” he said. “All-around, it was a good effort.”

After falling behind 1-0, the Panthers put up two runs in the second, five in the fifth and two in the sixth. They totaled 12 hits in the contest.

Reynolds, who had two RBIs on the night, said afterward that the team's hot start wasn't entirely unexpected.

“I thought we could do it if we all just got together and played like we were capable of,” he said. “If we play as a team, we can beat anybody.”

Still, the Panthers know they have a long road ahead.

“(Going through the first half unbeaten) is nice, but we want to do it a second time,” Woods said. “It's not where you start, it's where you end.”

Hibriten will try to stay unscathed Friday when the second cycle of conference play kicks off with a home game against Fred T. Foard.

JV Panthers roll

The Hibriten junior varsity team won 20-3 in five innings Wednesday.

Sean McGarvey was the winning pitcher for the Panthers and had two hits at the plate. Leading the Panther offense was Alex Austin, who was 4-for-5 and Austin Beard who was 3-for-4. Other key hitters were Matt Wedding, Hunt Prestwood, Jonathan Whitehead, Zach Adams, Ethan Turner, Kyle Haney and Caleb Gray.