<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0ENntb_0simp93E00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0ENntb_0simp93E00" width="1471" height="1409" ></figure>NAVASOTA – Saturday’s catchphrase for the Burton Lady Panthers was to “finish the job,” in the words of coach Zack Zorn.Though it may have taken a bit longer to do that than perhaps Zorn would have wanted, Burton accomplished it with a 14-4 run-rule win over Leon in six innings. The bi-district championship-clinching win sent Burton to the area round for the second straight season.Unlike Burton’s win in Game 1 in Caldwell, Saturday featured a slow start. Two errors gave Leon a path to take an early 1-0 lead on a passed ball.It was a start that showed Burton being a little too relaxed after a dominating win to start the bi-district series on Thursday.“After the first (game), I think we got a little too comfortable and we decided that we thought we were good and we could win it no matter what,” senior third baseman Kalli Pohl said. “But no matter what, you must keep it going, and we kept fighting.”Burton’s response came with an early surge, similar to Thursday’s opening 17-5 victory.A walk from Pohl and a hit from center fielder Amaya Williams put pitcher Bailey Glaesmann at the plate in position to make up for her early run allowed in the circle.She took full advantage, hammering the first pitch she saw to deep center field for a three-run home run to give Burton a 3-1 lead in the process.“It was my pitch, right down the middle,” Glaesmann said. “I was just swinging the hardest (on) my first pitch, and that’s what happened.”First baseman Melanie Wood added on with an RBI hit to right field, though she was thrown out trying to stretch the hit to a double to end the first with Burton ahead 4-1.Glaesmann quickly sent Leon down in order to get her Lady Panther teammates back in the dugout to keep adding to its lead. Burton added a trio of runs in the second to stretch the advantage.Pohl reached base for a second time on a fielder’s choice with Kelsie Hohlt scoring after she led the inning off with a walk. The Lady Panthers then took advantage of a poor throw to second base that rolled all the way to the wall, scoring two with ease to make it 7-1.Burton then continued to add on in the third, thanks to bases-loaded walks to catcher Reagan Roemer and Pohl in succession, making it 9-1.Burton’s bats then would enter a cold spell. The Lady Panthers went down in order in the fourth and then only got a single run in the fifth on a mishandled ball by Leon’s shortstop. The run made up for a Burton error at second base in the top half of the inning that gave Leon a run.Zorn said he understood the slow middle innings, but wanted his team to get back in a mindset to continue applying pressure.“It is a natural human reaction to get a little comfortable in that spot,” he said.Glaesmann also was starting to feel the effects of a heavy pitching load in a three-day span. She gave up a two-RBI hit into left field with two away in the top of the sixth, allowing Leon to get closer at 10-4.Glaesmann said her early week sickness played a role in some of her struggles, but credited her teammates behind her for “having my back.”A grounder back to Glaesmann, though, put Burton back in the dugout with the Lady Panthers eager to end things early.After a leadoff flyout to center field, a walk followed by three singles from Burton’s bottom three hitters put the Lady Panthers on the board. Second baseman Abby Dowling provided the RBI hit for her lone RBI in a 3-for-4 effort.The two hitters in front of Dowling, Wood and Hohlt, also had excellent days at the plate. Hohlt went 2-for-2 with two walks and scored four times while Wood provided a 2-for-3 effort with her RBI hit in the first and a walk.Both Zorn and the Lady Panthers alike were impressed by the bottom of the lineup, especially Dowling and Wood as Burton’s two left-handed hitters.“I think it is just being comfortable in the box and trust in themselves,” Zorn said. “We talked a lot in practice about having an approach, and we work on those things and hitting confidence. That is all it is, and right now those two are swinging it with confidence.”Pohl added that both Dowling and Wood “have been in the batting cage every chance they can get.”Roemer and Pohl both took advantage of RBI chances set by the bottom of the order with both hitting singles to push the lead to 13-4. Williams added the exclamation point with an RBI double into the outfield gap, clinching the bi-district title in run-rule fashion and giving her a multi-hit performance with a 2-for-5 effort.Burton’s bi-district title is the program’s first playoff advancement since 2015 when the Lady Panthers won the bi-district title over Hull-Daisetta in a one-game playoff. Burton earned a bye to the area round last season.“The whole team is just pumped up about it and very excited to keep moving on,” Pohl said.Burton will face Thrall in the area round after its upset series win over District 27-2A champion Johnson City, thanks to two extra-inning wins. The area matchup will take place in a one-game playoff at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Mumford.Burton may have gotten one series win under its belt, but Zorn wants the Lady Panthers to think bigger after well-deserved celebrations.“The job is not finished,” he said. “It is a small step, but we got more work to do and another round to go and try to take care of business.”</div></body>

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Lady Panthers win bi-district championship behind early surge

NAVASOTA – Saturday’s catchphrase for the Burton Lady Panthers was to “finish the job,” in the words of coach Zack Zorn. Though it may have taken a bit longer to do that than perhaps Zorn would have wanted, Burton accomplished it with a 14-4 run-rule win over Leon in six innings. The bi-district championship-clinching win sent Burton to the area round for the second straight season.

Lady Panthers win bi-district championship behind early surge

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