(Marion) — The Navarro Panther baseball season ended under the lights in Marion on Friday night with the Class 4A 5th-ranked Boerne Greyhounds taking down the Panthers 4-3 in game one and winning 3-0 in game two of a doubleheader to complete the two-game sweep in the UIL Region IV Quarterfinals.
Game one started off well for the Panthers as Navarro scored two runs in the top of the first off Greyhound starter Xander Cloudy. Leadoff batter Landun Taylor reached on an error and would come home with the first run of the game on a base hit by Navarro’s next batter, senior Marco Moncada. Two batters later, Blaine Pircher would bring Moncada home with another base hit to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead.
Navarro game one starter Pircher would keep the Greyhounds off the scoreboard through the first four innings. The senior right-hander got outs with runners at 3rd base at the end of the first two innings to maintain the Panther two-run lead.
In the top of the 4th, the Panthers were denied a run on a great play by Boerne center fielder Brooks Perez. With two outs, Bryce Nall would single and steal 2nd base. Designated hitter Gavin Newborg then laced a single to center, but a hard charging Perez would field the ball and gun Nall down at the plate to end the inning and keep the score at 2-0.
In the bottom of the 5th, the Greyhounds would send 10 batters to the plate and score four runs, three of them unearned to knock Pircher from the game. Pircher finished his final start for the Panthers going 4 and 2/3 innings, giving up only 4 hits and striking out a pair.
Navarro would get their final run in the top of the 6th when Colton Schuelke, running for senior catcher Cole Zimmer who walked, scored on an errant pick-off move by Cloudy. Cloudy retired the last four Navarro batters in the 6th and 7th to get the complete game win. He allowed only one earned run.
In game two, Panther ace Bryce Nall would make the start. He would be touched up for single runs by the Greyhounds in the first three innings, but the senior would shut down Boerne the rest of the way.
In his final start as a Navarro Panther, Nall would go the distance in game two allowing just four hits while striking out five. The Lubbock Christian commit allowed only two earned runs against a potent Greyhound lineup.
Meanwhile, Boerne starter Landon Lestourgeon was cruising with a no-hitter through six innings. Panther designated hitter Blaine Pircher broke up the no-no with a lead off double in the the bottom of the 7th. Lestourgen would then get a couple of strike outs and a ground-out to 2nd around walk to Matthew Villanueva to close out the series for the Greyhounds.
Boerne moves on to the 4A Regional Semifinals and will face Robstown. The Cottonpickers beat Floresville two games to one in their quarterfinal series.
The Navarro Panthers end the 2023 season with 24-10 record advancing to the 3rd round of the UIL playoffs. They took down Wimberley avenging a Bi-District loss from a year ago and then outlasted Sealy in a 3-game Area round series. The District 28-4A champion Panthers were lead by 5th-year head coach Kris Cavazos.