The varsity baseball team is off to a slow start in the 2017 regular season, going 1-4 in their first three district games. The team split the opening two game series with Wylie High School, losing 4-3 in the first game and coming back three days later with a 4-3 win of their own. Their second opponent of the season was Denton Guyer, in which the pitching staff gave up seven runs in each game. Eventually, the team was unable to contend with Guyer’s offense, dropping both games 7-4 and 7-2. The team hopes to bounce back from a rough start as they are sitting alone in the last place column. The team went up against the Mckinney Boyd Broncos on Tuesday night and came up short losing 3-1. Senior Tyler Burke pitched a complete game and struck out nine batters while giving up three ones. The offense was unable to provide support as they racked up just four hits. Burke went two for three at the plate and senior Elijah Reyes had an RBI which turned out to be the Panthers only run. Once again, the team went up against the Broncos three days later and looked to bounce back from a tough loss. The offense finally was able to come alive and the Panthers tallied up nine hits and scored five runs. Senior Mason O’Brien kicked things off with a double in the bottom of the 1st inning and was brought in with another double by junior Andrew Mills. Senior Ralph French also contributed going two for three with two runs batted in. The pitching staff was also thriving on Friday night, giving up only three runs throughout the game. Senior Garrett Long was able to strike out 11 batters and earned the win. The team has a tough opponent ahead, as they will go up against the Mckinney Lions next week, who are three and three in district play.