PANTHERS OPEN SERIES WITH FLATONIA, TONIGHT

The Burton Panthers will square off with the defending state champs in the Area Round of the Region IV/2A baseball playoffs.

Game-one is set for tonight at 7:00 at the LaGrange Fairgrounds field.  Game two will be back at the Fairgrounds, Friday at 7:00 p.m., while the third game (if necessary) will be Saturday night at 7:30 at LaGrange High School.

The Panthers enter the game with a 19-3 record, while the Bulldogs are 14-9.

Burton rolled past Sabine, 17-0 in the Bi-District playoff, while Flatonia downed Holland, two games to one (10-7, 1-5, 4-0).

The Panthers are a relatively young team, with 10 freshmen and sophomores on their 17-man roster.

The Panthers’ offense has led the way, with a .362 team batting average and a .512 on-base percentage.

The Panthers have three regulars batting over .450: Aaron Kohring (.493), Demonderick Winters (.492) and Cash Callahan (.457).

Seven Burton starters have scored over 20 runs this season: Callahan (47), Kohring (37), Bailey Deramus (36), Winters (35), Jackson Kalkhake (24), Tristan Brantley (24) and Cade Weiss (20).

Cash Kunkel helps anchor the pitching staff.  Kunkel is 6-1 with a 2.94 earned run average.  Kohring is 5-2 with a 1.64 e.r.a. and Callahan is 4-0 with a 1.84 e.r.a. and three saves.

Tonight’s opening game can be heard on KWHI and www.kwhi.com beginning with the pre-game show at 6:30.