Starr’s Mill comes up short in deciding game

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

The Starr’s Mill Panthers varsity baseball team made their second trek up I-85 to Parkview High School Thursday for the third and deciding game of the AAAAA quarterfinals. Though they took an early lead, Starr’s Mill lost 6-4 to close out their 2004 season.

Sophomore Levi Futo took the mound for the Panthers and tamed Parkview in the first inning, allowing one hit that glanced off his fingertips as it came roaring back toward the mound. Senior Andy Meyers hit a home run in the bottom of the inning to give Starr’s Mill a 1-0 lead. Parkview came up in the top of the second and got a hit after Futo retired the first batter. The runner advanced to third when a pickoff at first went wide and the next batter was hit by a pitch and then stole second base. Parkview’s Gator Parker hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game. With two outs, Parkview then did their damage, scoring three more runs on three hits and a walk. Futo was relieved by Game 1 winner Nick Terry, who recorded the final out of the second inning. Starr’s Mill went down 1-2-3 at the bottom of the second and found themselves down 4-1.

Parkview led off the third with a home run to take a 5-1 lead and got another run driven in in the fourth to make it 6-1. Terry struck out the side in the fifth inning and senior Danny Hartpence hit a home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth to cut into Parkview’s lead. Starr's Mill took Parkview down 1-2-3 again in the sixth and saw Meyers hit his second home run of the game to lead off the bottom of the inning. The score was now 6-3 and what previously looked impossible now looked possible. The next three Panther batters went down 1-2-3 though and it would be up to Terry and the defense to keep the score where it was at the top of the seventh.

They did their job.

Hartpence led off the bottom the inning with his second home run of the game. The entire Starr’s Mill fan base rose to their feet, beat their thunder sticks together and cheered. The score was now 6-4 and it appeared the Panther bats were coming alive again. Junior Phillip Shell hit a double after Jesse Barfield hit a ground out. Sophomore Andrew Robinson was hit by a pitch to give Starr’s Mill two base runners and put the go-ahead run at the plate. Junior Kyle McCreary hit into a fielder’s choice, putting runners at the corners and bringing up the batter that everyone wanted to see again; Meyers. It was a battle between Meyers and the pitcher, but his hit was scooped up and thrown to first base for the third and final out.

Though Starr’s Mill’s journey ended early this year, they should be proud of their accomplishments. It was the farthest any baseball team at Starr’s Mill has ever made it and they showed the state that they could match up and play with anybody. The Panthers will lose nine players to graduation, four of them starters. They will bring back the majority of their pitching staff and a team that knows what it takes to make the playoffs and win.