Lindale, Georgia- The Union County Panthers (4-1,0-0) faced the Pepperell Dragons (1-3,0-0) in the first game of a double header for the Panthers. There were 3 teams at the “Pepperell Diamond Day”. Union County would play back to back games versus Pepperell and Heard County. Then Heard County would face Pepperell to end the day.
Senior Zeke Swartz was the starting pitcher for the Panthers and he started the game off pitching very well, going 2 straight innings and only allowing no base runners. The Panthers couldn’t buy a hit as most of the lineup strike out of grounded out throughout the whole game. The Panthers made a lot of good contact but the balls were going right at each Dragon infielder. The Panthers finished with only 2 hits. In the 3rd inning, Swartz walked the first batter and the next batter hit a single and there were 2 men on base with no outs. A passed ball moved both runners up a base. Swartz was then called for a balk, which scored the runner on 3rd and moved the runner up from 2nd to 3rd. A ball dropped in for a hit and scored another run for the Dragons and the Dragons extended their lead to 2-0. Swartz would get out of the inning only allowing 2 runs. The Panthers would still not be able to get a hit in the next inning but Swartz was hit by a pitch with 2 outs. Pinch Runner Bailey Brown would steal 2nd with 2 outs but Senior Damien Chitwood would strikeout on the following pitch. Swartz would give up another run in the 4th inning to make the Dragon lead 3-0. Junior Thomas Dyer would pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning and get the job done, striking out one batter and getting 2 groundouts. The Panthers wouldn’t be able to get any runs on the board throughout the rest of the game and only finished with 2 hits. The Dragons would beat the Panthers 3-0. The Panthers faced the Heard County in the following game.