PP Panthers Rally To Beat Bobcats And Force Game 3

The Pembroke Pines Panthers came into Thursday’s Game Two matchup with the Bobcats hungry to win again.

The Panthers finished in a tie with the Colts to get into the second round of the HSBN Fall Classic and lost to the Bobcats in the opening game Tuesday. It was time to win.

The Panthers carried a cool, calm and collected demeanor into Thursday’s win-or-go-home game against the Bobcats and used patience to their advantage to take an 8-6 win. It’s win or go home again tonight for the Panthers as they face the Bobcats again for Game Three at 5 p.m. at Flanagan High School, with the winner advancing to Monday’s semifinals.

“I think now we have the momentum, and I think we now we have the confidence and we know we can beat them,” said Luis Mercado, whose fourth-inning, two-run home run was a game-changer for the Panthers. “We just have to do it one more time.”

The Bobcats, who won Game 1 4-1, took a 2-0 lead as Hector Abreu and Codey Williams scored in the second inning and padded the lead to 3-0 as Danny Pardo drove in Christian Khawly in the third.

Mercado put the Panthers back in the game with a two-run blast to left in the fourth.

“Just keep chipping and keep grinding,” Mercado said. “It was only three runs and we knew we could get back in it. I’m just happy we came back.”

Panthers manager Onel Garcia said the homer energized his players.

“Luis Mercado was big with that two-run homer,” Garcia said. “We were very flat before that. That put us in the game, and it kind of sparked us. The kids, sometimes they just need somebody to get a bang so they can wake up a little bit. I think that happened there and they started hitting the ball better.”

The Bobcats’ Xavier Beltran made it 4-2 game in the fifth as he scored on Pardo’s base hit, but the Panthers remained undaunted.

After walking the leadoff batter, Bobcats starter Mark Mendez left the game and was relieved by Anthony Molina. The Panthers pounced on some wildness by Molina to score five runs on wild pitches and a passed ball to go up 7-4.

“We just have a lot of heart and hustle and never give up,” said John Ham, who came in to relieve Panthers starter Etienne Latour in the sixth.

“I think Mark got a little tired and he hadn’t gone deep into games all fall long and we let him go a little bit even though he’s only about 60 pitches,” Bobcats manager Sergio Ambros said. “He went out there and walked the number nine hitter. And I think I’ll put the freshman phenom on the mound to give him an atmosphere like this, to see how he reacts because that’s the only way. And that’s what we used to the fall for, to try to gain that experience in that atmosphere and get fired up and to show him what’s it like to be on varsity. It’s one of those things where you want to give him that experience and you’ll end up having to live with whatever the result is. That’s baseball.”

The Bobcats made it 7-5 in the sixth as Williams scored on an error, but their progress was halted by a play at the plate to end the inning.

The Panthers scored another run in the top of the seventh to leave the Bobcats with the task of having to score four runs to win. Ham had a plan to thwart a comeback.

“Come in with the fastball, get ahead in the count, come with the hook and just throw strikes,” he said.

The Bobcats managed another run, but a fly out ended the game.

Garcia said the Panthers will need a better defensive effort if they’re going to win tonight.

“ET played good. We just didn’t play good defense behind him,” Garcia said. “And I think that kind of shook them up a little bit. I counted about eight plays we should have made. That definitely hurt, and their pitcher was very good, too. Mendez threw a good game. He was sharp and just ran out of gas a little bit.”

Ham said the philosophy for success remains the same for tonight’s game.

“We’re just going to come out strong,” Ham said. “That’s all there is to it. We come out, we hit the ball, have good pitching, as good as we’ve had all fall.”

Win or lose tonight, the Panthers are happy with the opportunity they’ve had to improve and play in competitive situation.

“You’ve got to have your big-boy pants in games like this,” Garcia said. “You can’t come out here and be too cautious. You’ve got to come and play to win. These are great games because of that. It basically gives you the experience needed to play in big games. I’m kind of tired to keep talking about we can compete with anybody. No, I want us to be able to be know as we can win against anybody. So that’s the next level we want to get to.”

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