Panthers stay alive

After giving up a four-run home run in the first and a three-run shot in the second it looked like the Pauls Valley season on the diamond would come to an end.

Dylan Norman settled in on the mound after that working five solid innings as the Panthers rallied for a 10-8 win over the Hugo Buffaloes in a regional elmination game in Pauls Valley.

Pauls Valley got some much needed offense as they pounded out 10 hits against two different Hugo pitchers.

Caleb Meave had a three-run shot in the second to help spark the offense. Meave, Norman and Caleb Livingston all had multiple hits in the game.

Hugo got the scoring started with four runs in the first. A walk and then back-to-back one out singles loaded the bases for Cole Irvin. Irvin got a pitch he liked and drove it out of the park for a grand slam home run and a 4-0 lead.

The Panthers responded in the bottom half of the inning. Norman started the game with a single and moved around to third on Livingston's double that one hopped the fence in left-center. With one out, Caleb Meave got on via an error scoring Norman and sending Livingston to third. Livingston would score as Terry Sanders reached on a two out error as PV cut the lead in half, 4-2.

Hugo rallied with two outs in the second inning with a couple of runs. Dustin Armor singled to get the rally started and Kelby Adams reached on an error. Ryan Debo then hit a towering home run over the right field fence and the Buffaloes took a 7-2 lead.

The Panthers had a big second inning that cut a big chunk out of the Hugo lead.

Coleton Strickland's one-out single started the inning. With two outs, Livingston singled. Ryan Carter then reached on an error as Strickland scored. With runners at 1-3, Meave got a pitch he liked driving the ball out of the park for a three-run home run cutting the lead to 7-6.

Over the next five innings, Norman pitched a great game. He gave up one run on two hits and struck out seven while walking one. At one point he had retired nine batters in a row. The lone run came in the fourth as PV committed the second of four errors in the game.

Pauls Valley got some help from the error bug to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth. Carter reached on a fielders choice and scored on an error on Meave's hit. Meave would also score on an error as PV tied the score at 8.

The Panthers had an insurance run in the fifth and another in the sixth. Bo McKee reached on an error to start the fifth. He stole second and scored on a two out single by Norman.

In the sixth, Meave singled and stole second to start the inning. Sam Halverson reached on an error and Meave scored on the error as PV took a 10-8 lead.

Norman worked through two errors in the top of the seventh without giving up a run. He got a diving catch from Bo McKee in centerfield and a fly ball out to Dillion O’Bryant to the final out of the game.

PV plays Broken Bow at 1 p.m. today at Wacker Baseball Stadium.

The Panthers got to the elmination game after losing 10-0 to No. 2 Blanchard. The Lions scored eight runs in the bottom of the third behind a home run by Chase Stephens. Stephens picked up the win with a five-hit shutout.