The pitching staff, led by junior Richie Post and senior Adam Goodman,  helped the Panthers build a 7-1 record to start the season.

Many of last year’s players, who made it to the quarterfinals in the state AAAAA playoffs, are back, so coach Brent Moseley is pretty happy.  

“A lot of the guys are back  so they know what winning feels like,” Moseley said. “We want to get back to where we were last year and then take the next step.”

As a team, the Panthers are hitting .315 with an OBP of .396. The pitching staff, which also includes sophomore Will Evans, junior Jared Kumro, and junior J.D. Masters, is doing its job with a combined 1.17 ERA, allowing 12 runs, eight of which were earned. It also has 50 strikeouts and 15 walks, keeping the opposition off the bases more often than not.

In the Panthers’ closest game, a 1-0 win against Ola in eight innings, shortstop Post hit a walk-off sac fly to score seni0r outfielder Eric Sutliff, who drew a walk, stole second base, and moved to third on a wild pitch.

“Ola called a timeout to talk to the pitcher,” Post said, “and coach Moseley called me over and basically said, ‘Do your job,’ so the only thing I wanted to do was just get the ball in the air deep so we could score from third, and I guess it just happened. I’ve been looking for the best pitch to hit early in the count, and it’s been working.”

Goodman, who also plays first base,  started the game with Post pitching in relief. Each threw four innings. Goodman struck out five and gave up three hits while Post struck out two and allowed four hits in the combined shutout. Post was credited with the win.

“Richie really came through for us there,” Goodman said. “He deserves a lot of the credit for that win, hitting the walk-off and pitching really well.”

Post, who is hitting .471 in 17 at bats,  leads the Panthers with three stolen bases and is tied for the team lead with four RBIs.

Along with his batting success, Post has pitched nine innings this season with six strikeouts and is 1-0 with one save. He allowed three unearned runs in his first outing in the Panthers’ 9-7 win against Jeff Davis, but opposing batters have not been able to score runs on him so far.

“It depends on the batter, but I’ve been throwing strikes and keeping the ball around the plate,” Post said. “It’s all about getting outs early in the count and getting ahead of the batter.”

Goodman is 1-0 with two saves in four games and nine and two-thirds innings. He has 16 strikeouts, seven of which came in his start against East Coweta. In that game, he pitched four innings without giving up a hit. In his first four games, he had not given up a run.

“We’ve all come out and started the season strong,” Goodman said. “A lot of us have improved since last year when we were already pretty good. We’ve just got to keep it up.”

Goodman has also been productive at the plate, going 7-for-24 with four RBIs and the team’s only home run.  He also  leads the team with nine strikeouts.

“It’s all about getting the right pitch,” Goodman said. “You can’t win the game by yourself. The whole team is doing well.”

Junior catcher Joe Gruszka has been the most patient at the plate among the Panthers this season, drawing a team-leading seven walks. He has a .481 on-base percentage and  a .300 batting average.

“I just try to get on base, no matter how I get there, whether it be by a walk or a hit,” Gruszka said.

“Everyone has been doing what they are supposed to do,” Moseley said. “We just need to keep it up and hopefully we can make a run.”