South Charlotte Panthers

The 2009 16U Panthers completed play in the 96 team Perfect Game WWBA 16U National Tournament with a third place finish.

In first round pool play the Cats had victories over the Louisiana Legends 12-3 and the US Athletic Nationals 7-6 before losing to the East Cobb Panthers 3-4. In spite of the loss the Panthers won the pool and advanced to championship pool play where they beat the South Carolina Diamond Devils 6-2 and Home Plate Chili Dogs 11-0 to advance to the SWEET 16. The Junior Cats came back versus the East Cobb Braves for a 4-3 win and then beat the Georgia Road Runners 7-5 in the round of 8. In the FINAL 4 the Panthers lost to the Rockdale Rhinos 2-6 to earn their second third place finish in a major 16U national event.

The offense was led by LF Casey Gebhardt 11 for 22 (.500) with 3 extra base hits; Spencer Shuey 10 for 23 (.434) and Tyler Miller 9 for 22 (.409). Chris Fogleman and Tyler Miller both had HRs in the tournament.

The pitching staff was led by reliever Chris Fogleman who earned two wins and a save in 9 innings of scoreless relief. Corey Roberts and Mat Batts both pitched complete game wins in the championship pool games.

The South Charlotte Panthers brought home the BRONZE medal from the USA BASEBALLJUNIOR OLYMPICS held in Jupiter, Florida.

The Panthers completed the week long 72 team event 7-2. In the first round of pool play the Panthers finished 2-1 with wins over Southwest Florida Baseball 5-2 and the Dupage Diamondbacks 5-2. The lone loss was 2-3 to the Columbus Explorers.

The Panthers advanced to the 48 team championship pool play and finished 2-0 with a 10-4 win over the Broward Bulldogs and a come from behind 6-5 win over the Carolina Blue Jays.

The wins advanced the Panthers to the Championship Round of 32 where they faced a very strong Texas Stix team and locked up in an 11 inning pitchers duel. The Panthers took the hard fought 1-0 win and advanced to the SWEET 16 where they faced the Orlando Baseball Academy and won 3-0. In the ELITE 8 the Panthers came from behind to beat the Orlando Scorpions 3-2 to advance to the FINAL 4. In the finals the Panthers lost an early lead and fell to the Palm Beach PAL 7-4. The BRONZE medal game was rained out and the medal was shared by the Panthers and the Richmond Braves.

Leading hitters for the week were SS Richie Shaffer 13 for 29 (.448); C Tyler Tewell 13 for 30 (.433); CF Tyler Miller 12 for 33 (.364) and 1B Spencer Shuey 10 for 29 (.345) including 12 RBI and a Grand Slam HR.

Corey Roberts (1-0) led the pitching staff including a nine inning no hitter with no decision versus Texas. Chris Fogleman pitched 9 innings in relief and earned 3 wins and 2 saves for the week.

The 18U South Charlotte Panthers finished second in the Perfect Game World Wood Bat 18U National Championships in East Cobb, Georgia.

The Panthers started first round pool play in the 154 team event 3-0 with wins over the US Athletes Nationals 2-1; Huntington Hounds 8-0 and the South Bergen Mets 5-2. The three wins advanced the team to championship pool play where the Cats suffered their first loss 7-1 to the Braves Scout Team. The Panthers bounced back with a come back win over the Florida Pokers 5-4 and a shut out over the Virginia Cardinals 4-0. The Panthers advanced into championship bracket play seeded 14th in the round of 16.
In the SWEET 16 the Cats knocked off the home town powerhouse East Cobb Astros 9-4. In the ELITE 8 the Cats held on versus the South Carolina Diamond Devils winning 5-3 to advance to the FINAL 4. In the FINAL 4 the Panthers beat a strong Savanah Chain team 9-1 to advance to the CHAMPIONSHIP. In the championship game versus Chet Lemons Juice the teams traded leads and the Juice hung on for a hard fought 4-3 win.

Hamilton Bennett led the Panther pitchers with two complete game wins including a shut out. Hammy struck out 20 batters while giving up 1 run. Mat Batts picked up two wins including the semi final victory over the Chain. Steven Neff also earned two wins including shutting down the Astros.

The offense was led by Whit Merrifield 11 for 28 (.393); Stephen Andrews 9 for 23 (.391) and Tyler Vogler 9 for 24 (.375). The Panthers had 24 extra base hits for the week including 8 HRs. Hitting homers were Byron McKoy (3); Stephen Andrews (2) and Preston Shuey; Garrett Koster and Tyler Vogler; one each.

CHARLOTTE OBSERVER 

All Observer - Richie Shaffer

All Mecklenburg County - Richie Shaffer (First Team/IF); Skip Hutchins (Second Team/P); Corey Roberts (Second Team/IF); Eric Semeniuk (Second Team/OF).

All Upper State SC - Garrett Koster (IF)


Whit Merrifield

 All Central Piedmont Conference; North Carolina State Games, Western Region; North Carolina Challenge Game v. SC; Davie Co. MVP.