Panthers come up short to Central

By Landon Willmuth
UCA sportswriting

After holding a 2-1 lead for four innings, the Greenbrier Panthers came up short in a close contest with the Little Rock Central Tigers, losing, 3-2, in a non-conference game Monday at Panther Field.

The Panthers got off to an excellent start, scoring two runs off Trent Virden's double down the left-field line. Unfortunately, the bats went quiet after the first inning, and the Panthers did not score again.

Greenbrier was held in check in most part due to the superb pitching of Central's Daniel Imbry and Brandon Schmidt. Imbry and Schmidt combined for seven strikeouts and allowed five hits.

"The bats just died on us," Panther coach Terry May said. “We just couldn't take advantage when we had runners on."

After the hot start in the bottom of the first, Greenbrier managed just four hits the rest of the game.

In the bottom of the fifth, after getting runners on second and third, Greenbrier's 4 and 5 hitters in the lineup both struck out, ending a hopeful scoring opportunity.

“We got off to a good start, but then we just didn’t catch any breaks for the rest of the game," May said.

The Panthers will be back in action Friday as they take on Huntsville at Panther Field.