Eagles and Panthers hash it out on the diamond

Monday, April 9th, The Union County Baseball team faced off against The Rabun Gap Eagles in a non-region matchup.

Banton took the mound for the Panthers and struggled early as he allowed a pair of hits to open the game. A. Kephue would score for the Eagles on a passed ball to gain the lead 1-0.

Banton led off the second inning win a double and would later score on a fielders choice to tie the game at 1.

Banton struggled in the 3rd as he allowed a pair of singles to begin the inning. A walk followed to load the bases.

The Eagles used a 5 run inning to regain the lead 6-1.

Banton was relieved by Daniel after allowing 5 earned runs, 2 walks, and striking out one batter.

Daniel leadoff the 4th inning with a double and would later be driven in by Rich as the Panthers trailed 6-2.

UC looked to make a comeback as they trailed 6-2 after 5 innings. Dyer leadoff the 6th with a double. Baggett followed with a double of his own to drive in Dyer. Baggett would later be driven in by Ruff.

The Panthers trailed 6-4 after 6 innings of play.   

Everett leadoff the 7th with a single and was followed by Kelley who reached with a walk. Scott drove in both runners with a SAC to tie to game at 6. Rich and Dyer helped the Panthers gain the lead as both collected RBI hits. Baggett, Allison, and Harkins all reached base as the Panthers lead 10-6 after 6 1/2 innings of play.

The Eagles couldn’t find offense in the 7th as Daniel struck 2 of the 3 batters out.

Daniel finished pitch 4 2/3 innings in relief allowing only 3 hits and 7 strikeouts.

Rich lead the Panthers offensively going 2-4 with 3 RBI’s.

The Panthers improve to 8-15 and will next play Tuesday at Fannin County in the first of a 3 game series.