FARMINGTON – The 505 Panthers appear headed in the right direction as they prepare for a road trip this week to Denver for a Connie Mack regional tournament.
Riding a seven-game win streak in city league action as the team prepares to compete in a regional qualifying tournament next week, the 505 Panthers may be hitting its best stride.
On Monday, the 505 Panthers rolled to a pair of victories in a doubleheader at Ricketts Park. The Panthers rolled past NWNM Elite by a final of 7-1 before beating the Frackers by a score of 8-1.
In the team’s final game of the week, the 505 Panthers rolled over the Panthers Black by a final of 15-0 on Tuesday.
The Monday night victory over the Frackers avenged the only loss of the current city league campaign for the Panthers. Those two teams met on the opening day of the city league season with the Frackers coming out on top 7-5.
Since that time, the Panthers have outscored their opponents by a combined margin of 73-6 through Tuesday’s action and have improved to a record of 7-1.
Panthers pitchers Aidan Joyce and Taylon Laxson combined to allow only a pair of hits and five walks in the Monday win over the Frackers. In the win over NWNM Elite, Dax Vigil and Riley Cornman dished out nine strikeouts, allowing only three hits and didn’t give up a walk.
The Panthers are hoping to represent the city of Farmington for the second straight year in next month’s Connie Mack World Series.
The Panthers will be on the road next week to take part in a regional qualifying tournament in Denver. Along with the Panthers, there will also be plenty of representation from the state of New Mexico, including the Albuquerque Baseball Academy, which are coming off a regional tournament championship last week. The winner of the regional tournament in Denver would receive a berth in the CMWS, which begins July 21.
“Pitching is really coming around and defensively we’ve been playing well,” said Panthers coach John Kuhn. “We still need to be more focused during games and we have to hit better if we want to win the city tournament.”
Jacob Kuhn went 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of runs batted in during the 8-1 win over the Frackers, while Keenan Bejar scored twice. Kaden Peace and Ryan Ray each scored twice in the win over NWNM Elite.
In the Tuesday afternoon win over the Panthers Black, Kuhn threw 2 ⅓ innings, struck out five batters and allowed only two hits and a walk. He was relieved in the third inning by Elijah Long, who gave up only one while striking out a couple batters in 1 ⅔ innings of the run-rule victory.
Two teams have already stamped their ticket to the CMWS, thanks to winning regional qualifying tournaments last week.
The Dallas Tigers, coached by Brett Bergman, will be headed to Farmington for the World Series, while the High Performance Program Tigers from Ontario, Canada will also be participating in the CMWS after winning a tournament in their hometown of Mississauga, Ontario.
In the meantime, Connie Mack city league action continues this week at Ricketts Park with the Frackers facing the Shiprock Dodgers at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, followed by a 7:40 p.m. late game with the Kirtland Broncos facing the Panthers Black. On Friday, the NWNM Elite will face Kirtland with a scheduled start time of 6 p.m.
