Friday, May 15, 2004

Panthers open playoffs at home

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

The Starr’s Mill Panthers finished the regular season with an overall record of 21-5 and a ranking of eighth in the state. They completed their region schedule as the number-two seed, which guaranteed opening the AAAAA playoffs at home.

They will take on the Valdosta Wildcats in a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. today. If a rubber game is needed, it will be played at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

Starr’s Mill’s season was so successful thanks to great hitting and solid pitching. Kyle McCreary led the team in hits (32), runs scored (33), singles (21) and triples (2). He had a batting average of .372 and finished second in RBI, 25 to Andy Kragor’s 26. Kragor also led the team in doubles with 11. The Panthers also had three players with four home-runs this season: McCreary, Danny Hartpence and Joey Lewis. Starr’s Mill had a team batting average of .361 and had 15 batters with average of .300 or better, 12 batters with double digit hits and eight batters with 10 or more runs driven in.

The Panthers pitchers were led by Blake Nation, who went 7-2 with two saves and finished the season with an ERA of 2.39. Nick Terry went 5-2 with an ERA of 4.05 and Andrew Robinson went 3-0 with an ERA of 3.00. The entire Starr’s Mill pitching staff combined to throw 146 strikeouts and give up 96 runs, 79 of them earned. The combined ERA of all of the pitchers was 3.50.

Starr’s Mill enters the playoffs having won five in a row and having outscored their opponents 44-9 in those games. If the Panthers defeat Valdosta, they will take on the winner of Jonesboro/Effingham County next Wednesday.

Landmark Christian will also host state playoff games today when they take on Gordon Lee in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. The War Eagles captured their second consecutive region championship and enter the Class A playoffs as a number one seed. If the War Eagles win against Gordon Lee, they will take on the winner of Georgia Military College High School/Prince Avenue Wednesday.