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Panthers end baseball season with North Star battles

By Sue Sitter - | Jun 4, 2022

Sue Sitter/PCT The Rugby Panthers pose with their second-place plaque at the end of the Region 5 baseball tournament, May 25.

The Rugby Panthers climbed back from an 8-1 semifinal baseball loss to the North Star Bearcats with a 7-2 win over the Northern Lights Comets for a second chance at a Region 5 tournament win in Cando on May 25.

Hope for a win against the Bearcats to keep the Panthers alive to the final round sprang up in the second-chance game when the Panthers went ahead 5-2 in the fourth inning. However, hope faded as Rugby’s lead evaporated later in the game.

North Star used its home field advantage to top the Panthers 6-5 and punch a ticket to state.

Like most teams in the region, the Panthers found the Bearcats to be tough opponents during the regular season. Rugby played the Bearcats last in the regular season and North Star broke the Panthers’ streak of undefeated games with a 4-0 shutout.

The Panthers went into regionals as the number two seed against the still-undefeated Bearcats.

When the Panthers met the Bearcats again, this time in the semifinals, Rugby denied North Star a shutout with an RBI by catcher Erik Foster. However, the run came in the seventh inning, when the Bearcats had already built a 7-run lead.

Rugby had a second chance ahead depending on whether the Panthers eliminated the Northern Lights Comets from the last round. The Panthers had met and defeated the Comets in the regular season and did so again with a 7-2 final score.

The Panthers’ second chance came 20 minutes after the game against Northern Lights ended.

Fresh from battle, Rugby squared off against North Star again. A win in the second chance round meant another opportunity to fight for a berth at state the next day.

The Panthers’ offensive began with a base hit by Logan Harner, who attempted to steal second base. North Star’s Jack Ahlberg tagged him out. A walk and a base hit by Panthers’ pitcher Brody Schneibel put two more on base, but the Bearcats left them stranded.

An RBI by the Bearcats’ Garrett Westlind gave North Star its first run in the second inning. The Panthers answered with a double by Gavin Schepp, who set the stage for a tie when he took advantage of Bearcats errors to get to third base, then home.

Harner, who took first base after a dropped fly to left field, tried for a second base steal again. This time, he made it. Another error and a walk loaded the bases for the Panthers. Foster batted in two with a fly to deep right field, giving Rugby a 3-1 lead. Garrett Sullivan followed with a sacrifice RBI for Rugby. The inning ended with Rugby ahead 4-1.

The Bearcats found a second run after a Panthers error, but Rugby held them to two runs.

The top of the fourth inning saw another double from Schepp, and the Panthers found their momentum again. Harner batted Schepp in for a 5-2 Panthers lead.

The fifth inning saw another Bearcats run batted in by Parker Simon.

Simon took the pitching mound in the sixth inning, denying the Panthers any more hits for the game.

Westlind batted in a run for North Star in the sixth inning, shrinking Rugby’s lead to 5-4.

Errors and a base hit by Hunter Hagler tied the score for the Bearcats in the seventh inning before another RBI by North Star’s Charles Bisbee gave the Bearcats the win.

After a post-game conference with his players, Panthers Coach Travis Risovi said he was proud of the team.

“I told them afterwards, someday when they look back on the season, I don’t want them to look back on a negative thing that happened, that we lost a game that we had a chance of winning, because baseball was a long season for us and there were so many positives for us,” Risovi said.

“We lost three games to the same team, so kudos to North Star,” he added. “They beat us and they’re a very good team and so were we.

“We came up on the wrong end tonight, but not for lack of effort or lack of trying. And we gave it our all and we lost,” he said.

Risovi said the North Star team, which consists mainly of sophomores and juniors, would see Rugby’s returning players next year.

Schneibel, Foster, Harner, center fielder Macen Heisler, and 11 more players will return to Rugby Panthers baseball next year.

“Every game is a new game,” Risovi said. “We know we have a big returning group next year, and they have the same group returning next year. We’re going to battle it out again. We’ll battle to the end and see who comes out on top next year.”