MONROE, La. – Patterson entered a best-of-three second round matchup as an underdog to top-ranked Sterlington last weekend, and it didn’t take long for the Panthers to prove why.
No. 1 (30-4) Sterlington allowed just one run over the course of a two-game sweep against the No. 9 seed.
With a 9-0 victory on Friday and 13-1 win that followed the next day, Sterlington now looks ahead to hosting No. 9 Jena, who defeated No. 8 Berwick to advance to the quarterfinals. Jena defeated Berwick, 18-1, in Game 1.
“I got to watch their last game against Berwick, and they really swung it,” Sterlington head coach Mark Sims said. “They sure look the part, but everybody does in the quarterfinals. It’ll be their No. 1 against our No. 1.”
Sterlington will host Jena Thursday for Game 1, rather than Friday. Tickets for all playoff games will be $10 at the gate with a 6:30 start time for both Thursday and Friday games. Should a third game be necessary Saturday, the Panthers and Giants will get underway at 2 p.m.
“I talked with their coach on Saturday and just said, ‘Man, I don’t know how you feel about this but I’d like to play the first game on Thursday,’ and he just said, ‘Coach, that’s perfect. I was hoping you’d say that,’” Sims said. “That’s the way it should be. You don’t have to worry about momentum or anything like that. You can go home and sleep in your bed and then come out and play Game 3.”
The Panthers allowed just eight hits over the weekend, but Brandon Brewer, Luke Handy and Joby Guthrie accounted for zero walk over the two-game sweep.
“That was the thing,” Sims said. “We didn’t give any free bases and only made one error. It only gets tougher from here, so I’m hoping we can carry that forward into this next series.”
Offensively, William Perkins, Cole Thompson, Grant Mangrum and Clay Benson put together multi-hit days in Game 2, while Parker Coley and John Barr each recorded two hits in Game 1 against Patterson.
Brewer allowed just three hits and struck out eight in the seven-inning performance Friday night.
