Despite an easy conference victory Tuesday night against Arlington Lamar, the Paschal Panthers’ head coach Sarah Dokie-Reyes still saw areas for improvement.
“The first time we played this team we beat them 15-0,” Dokie-Reyes said. “So the mentality was just ‘we know we’re going to beat them,’ instead of coming out and taking care of the game.”

The Panthers (11-6, 8-3, 4-6A) came close to that previous score, with a 10-0 victory over the Vikings (5-9, 4-6) on Tuesday. Dokie-Reyes attributed the win to the defensive efforts of her team, especially several freshmen players.
“Our shortstop always makes stellar plays; she’s very fundamental,” Dokie-Reyes said. “She’s one of our strongest players along with our pitcher, and they’re both freshmen.”

The Panthers came out swinging early in the first inning, with an RBI by Betsy Bell bringing Alisha Jones in from first base.

The Vikings were plagued by errors, with several of them leading to runs throughout the game. An error by the Vikings’ first baseman led to the Panthers’ next two runs by Maggie Hurst and Jesse Ortiz, respectively.

The Vikings got on base for the first time in the top of the fourth with a double by Ashley Stone. However, the Panthers were still able to keep shutout going.

The Panthers ignited on offense in the fourth inning, with Bell hitting a two-run home run to put them up by six runs.

The Panthers brought in a courtesy runner for pitcher Lydia Vidales just before Caroline Adair hit a line drive to left field for another two-run home run to make it 8-0 at the end of the fourth inning.

Vikings centerfielder Charlotte Dunham got on base with a single in the top of the fifth, but the Vikings were still unable to translate hits into runs.
In the bottom of the fifth, a Viking error in the outfield led to the final Panther runs of the game. With the Panthers scoring 10 unanswered runs after five innings of play, the mercy rule came into effect.

The Panthers play their next district game on Friday against Arlington Sam Houston at 6 p.m.
Dokie-Reyes said the team will need to focus on discipline and keeping a level head during games going forward.
“We need to come in and take care of business from the start and not let teams hang around,” said Dokie-Reyes. “We’re going to work on being disciplined at the plate and keeping our focus.”
Amanda Hernandez is a sports reporter for The 109. Email her at [email protected].