South Charlotte Panthers

2009 SC Panther RICHIE SHAFFER committed to Clemson University where he will play for the Tigers. Congratulations to Richie, his parents Rick and Denise and brother Chris. Richie will help lead the Providence High School Panthers in their quest for a 4A state title this spring before joining the SC Panthers in their summer and fall schedule.

Richie was recently honored at the Greater Charlotte Hot Stove Annual Banquet as the 2007 High School PLAYER OF THE YEAR.

 Congratulations to the five 2008 SC Panthers who played up on the 2007 SCP team all having signed to continue their education and play baseball at:

 RYAN ARROWOOD       RS CENTRAL          APPALACHIAN STATE

GARRET KOSTER          FT. MILL                WINTHROP UNIVERSITY

ERIC SEMENIUK           PROVIDENCE         MARSHALL UNIVERSITY

TYLER VOGLER            MT. TABOR             UNIVERSITY OF NC; GREENSBORO

CLAY WATSON              N. DAVIDSON         CATAWBA COLLEGE

The Panthers completed their 2007 season in Jupiter, Florida at the Perfect Game World Wood Bat World Championships. The Cats advanced to the championship round of 32 teams where they were put out of the tournament by eventual runner up the Orlando Scorpions and finished 19th based on runs given up.

In tournament pool play the Panthers completed play with a win and two ties to earn advancement to the championship round. In Game 1 the team battled to a 0-0 tie versus one of the tournament favorites the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy. Starting pitcher Alex Wood (6-1) pitched a complete game shut out and matched the highly touted Puerto Rican pitcher inning for inning in front of a large opening day crowd. Alex gave up 4 hits while striking out 6 in the game. He also controlled the speedy Puerto Rican running game by picking off two base runners. The Cats missed out on a couple of scoring opportunities, leaving runners in scoring position 3 innings. Collecting hits for the Cats were LF Shane Basen; 2B Richie Shaffer and 1B Chris Fogleman.  

In Game 2 the Panthers beat the PG-Miami Blue 4-0. Starting pitcher Ryan Arrowood (4-1) pitched a complete game shutout taking the Panthers pitcher's shutout innings streak to 20. Ryan struck out 10 while giving up only 2 hits in the victory. RF Tyler Miller 3-4 with a triple; Richie Shaffer 2-4 with a double and C Ben Redmond 1-2 with the game winning RBI led the offense.

 The Panthers gave up a 3 run lead in the final game of pool play and hung on for a 5-5 tie against the talented All Star Baseball Academy. Starting pitcher Corey Roberts (10-3) struggled early and was relieved by Clay Watson. Clay shut down the ASBA bats for 4 innings while striking out 2, but gave way late following a couple of scratch hits. Richie Shaffer in relief got the bases loaded final out on a double play from SS Garrett Koster and 2B C.A. Clayton to preserve the tie. RF Tyler Miller led the offense going 2-3 with a 2 RBI double and 3B Ryan Arrowood was 1-3 with an RBI double.

The Panthers advanced to the championship round of 32 teams in the 80 team field and took on the undefeated Orlando Scorpions. The game went to the fourth inning tied 0-0 when the Scorpions put together a couple of hits off of starting pitcher Mat Batts (7-3) and took a 2-0. The Cat bats were silenced by the Scorpion lefty pitcher with the exception of scattered hits by 3B Ryan Arrowood; 1B Chris Fogleman and C Tyler Tewell.  The loss knocked the Panthers out of the tournament. The Cats gave up 7 runs in 4 games placing them 19th place for the event. Eighteen Panther players are looking forward to returning to Jupiter in the fall of 2008 to improve on this years results.

The 2009 Cats finished the season 48-17-4 and the fall season 18-4-2.                                   

The Panthers extended their winning streak to 13 games going 3-0 in the Wake Forest/Wilkes CC Showcase Tournament. In Game 1 the Panthers hung on for a 7-6 victory over the On Deck O's 08 team. The win marked the rubber match between the two rivals and gave the Panthers a 2-1 fall record and 3-2 season record versus the strong On Deck O's 08 team. Starting pitcher Mat Batts earned his seventh win of the season with 4 innings of 1 run work while striking out 4. Justin Setzer pitched 1 inning of relief with no runs scored and Alex Wood pitched a solid 2 innings of relief for his first save after getting roughed up in his first inning. The Cats had 10 hits for the game and were led by SS Ryan Arrowood who was 3 for 5 with a double and a triple plus 2 RBI's. DH Tyler Zupcic also collected three hits, scored 3 runs and stole 2 bases. RF Tyler Miller connected for a 2 RBI double and scored 2 runs.

In Game 2 the Panthers beat the North Carolina Baseball Academy 8-2 behind starting pitcher Corey Roberts. Corey earned his team leading tenth victory of the season with 5 innings of 3 hit work while striking out 9. Joseph Shealy worked hitless/scoreless 2 innings of relief to close the game out. Offensively the Cats were led by 3B Trey Laney 2 for 4 and DH Brett Austin 2 for 4. RF Joseph Shealy knocked in the go ahead run with an RBI single to put the Panthers ahead for good.

In Game 3 the Cats won over the Heat Showcase 09's 9-0. Starting pitcher Ryan Arrowood earned the win with 4 innings of scoreless work while striking out 4. Clay Watson faced the minimum 9 hitters in his 3 innings of relief and struck out 4; Chris Fogleman struck out all three hitters he faced and Kurt Semeniuk closed the game out with a strike out; giving the Panther pitchers 12 for the game in a combined 2 hit shut out. Leading the hitters was CF Casey Gebhardt 3 for 3 with a double and 2 runs scored. DH Tyler Zupcic 2 for 4 and RF Tyler Miller 2-5 contributed to the 15 hit attack.

 The Panthers will next travel to Jupiter, Florida where they will compete for the Perfect Game World Baseball Championships.

The Panthers finished the weekend 3-0 in the USC Wood Bat Showcase to take their fall record to 14-3. In their first ever game versus a team from the state of Nevada the Panthers beat the Las Vegas Stars 5-0 in a shut out victory. Starting pitcher Ryan Arrowood (2-1) earned the win and relievers Justin Setzer and Mat Batts finished off the Stars. The Cat pitchers combined to strike out 16 while giving up 3 hits. C Ben Redmond 2-3 with 2 RBIs and 3B Richie Shaffer 2-3 led the offense and the defense played error free.

Saturday night the Cats took on scrappy Wilmington Select and held on to win 6-3 behind starting pitcher Clay Watson (3-1) and reliever Joe Shealy. Clay struck out 7 in 5 innings and Joe 2 in 3 innings. 2B Chris Fogleman 2-2 and 2B/LF Drew Casella 2-2 with 2 doubles led the hitters. 1B Mat Batts 2-4 with 2 RBIs and DH Ryan Arrowood 1-4 with a 3 run homer drove in all of the Panther runs.

Sunday the Panthers swept the weekend with a 7-1 victory over the Barons Baseball from Augusta, Georgia at Sarge Frye Field at the University of South Carolina. Starting pitcher Alex Wood (6-1) gave up no runs and a hit to go with 5 strike outs to earn his sixth victory. Corey Roberts and Richie Shaffer pitched in relief to preserve the win. The offense was led by CF Tyler Miller 3-5; SS Richie Shaffer 2-3 and 3B Ryan Arrowood 2-2. For the second time in the event the Panther defense played error free.

The Panthers return to the diamond October 20 at the Wake Forest Showcase in Winston Salem, NC.