THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Permian High School Athletics

The Permian Panthers finally got the breaks to go their way Saturday, notching their first victory of the District 2-6A baseball season with an 11-3 victory over Midland Lee at McCanlies Field. In dropping their first two district games to Wolfforth Frenship and Midland High, the Panthers (13-7 overall, 1-2 district) played from behind most of the way. On Saturday, Permian took the lead in the first inning and never trailed, though the Rebels (11-7, 2-1) tied the game in the fourth inning. “It’s huge,” Permian coach Tate Criswell said of avoiding an 0-3 district start. “I told the guys we need to not only keep our edge now, but go sharpen it. “It always makes you feel good to win, and to win against a (team like) Midland Lee. Coach (Brian) Roper does a great job and he has for a long time. It sure does make you feel good.” Every spot in the Permian lineup either scored or drove in a run. The Panthers put up four runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to put the game away. “It was really just togetherness, just everyone buying in and focusing on team,” said Daniel Enriquez, who finished 2 for 3 with a double and three RBIs. “The last two games, I think we were focused on other things that weren’t important. I’m just proud of all of us. Tanner Adams, who was 2 for 4 as Permian totaled 10 hits, and Enriquez each had RBI singles in the first to give the Panthers an early 2-0 lead. Isaiah Flores led off the second with a triple and scored on Taylor Sullivan's sacrifice fly. In the fifth, Adams reached on an error to drive in the go-ahead run and Enriquez followed with a sacrifice fly. “We couldn’t have done it without our teammates getting on the bag,” Adams said. “We just got put in a lucky spot and were the lucky guys to make the base hits. It’s all on them.” Noey Brito (3-1) got the win with 3.2 scoreless innings in relief of starter Tyler Ramage. Brito came into a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the fourth with Permian leading 3-1. The Rebels tied it on Logan Acosta’s RBI single and Adam Becker’s sacrifice fly, but Brito faced just one batter over the minimum the rest of the way. “It just took trust in my team,” said Brito, who did not allow a hit after Acosta’s single. “If I hit my spots, even though they hit the ball, my teammates played behind me to win the game.” Ramage was charged with three runs on six hits over 3.1 innings. “It was just our competitiveness, going out there and competing and trusting our defense,” Brito said of the combined performance. Acosta finished 2 for 4 and Jordan Matthews had an RBI double in the third inning for the Rebels. In the fifth, Permian loaded the bases on two walks and Christian Tschauner’s bunt single. In addition to the RBIs by Adams and Enriquez, two more runs scored on an error and a passed ball. The Panthers batted around in the sixth as Tschauner, Caden Bedrick and Enriquez drove in runs. Dylan Drace (2-1) took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits over four-plus innings. The Panthers added seven runs off relievers J.J. Melendez and Isacc Madrid as the Rebels committed four errors in the last two innings. Roper said having used four pitchers in Thursday’s game against Amarillo Tascosa, including Drace for an inning in relief, wasn’t a factor Saturday. “We planned for this and actually went into the day feeling pretty good,” Roper said. “It set up the way we expected it to, we just didn’t execute. We tied it up and put ourselves in a position to win, then the wheels fell off.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Permian High School Athletics

PANTHERS ERUPT FOR FIRST DISTRICT 2-6A VICTORY, 11-3 OVER MIDLAND LEE

STAFF

Odessa American | 3/17/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Permian Athletics