When the Permian baseball team opens its Class 6A bi-district round series against El Paso Pebble Hills, it won’t be the first time the squads will face off this season.
The Panthers and Cougars played each other in nondistrict play March 4 in the Tournament of Champions in Midland, where Permian came away with a 5-3 win after overcoming some late game challenges.
A lot has changed since then and this time the showdown has a lot more on the line.
“I don’t know that there’s any real advantage outside of, we’ve seen what they look like and we know they’re scrappy and play hard,” coach Tate Criswell said. “I don’t think the approach from either side would change if we hadn’t played them.”
Criswell added that he’s expecting El Paso Pebble Hills to use factors like bunts and aggressive baserunning to give itthe best chance to win.
Both sides are entering the postseason in different situations, with one team stringing together wins at the right time and the other looking to shake off a late losing streak.
El Paso Pebble Hills won its last three games, including a seeding contest over El Paso Eastwood, to grab second place in District 1-6A.
Permian ran into a tough stretch, suffering five straight losses to finish third in District 2-6A.
Peyton Gregory said the losing streak taught him that he could be a better teammate and leader in the dugout.
“There were some times where I lost who I was in the dugout and expressed some of my emotions in ways that I shouldn’t have,” Gregory said. “I just feel like I can do a better job at that and that’s what I’m going to try and practice more of this series.”
The Panthers know they’ll need to shift their focus quickly from the regular season if they want to repeat their deep playoff run from 2021, where they advanced to the third round after defeating El Paso Socorro and Trophy Club Byron Nelson.
Four of Permian’s last five games were lost by two runs or less, with the team finding a way to secure positive results in close games a large portion of the time.
Cooper Golden said when the Panthers found late inning magic, it showed how resilient each player was.
“I do believe that just shows who we are, that we don’t want to give up,” Golden said. “We all do not like losing and that just shows.”
With the postseason comes a sense of renewal and a chance for the Panthers to get back to the formula that gave them success earlier in the campaign.
For much of year, Criswell has described baseball as a marathon and things are no different heading into a win or go home setting.
“We’re just going to have to keep on moving forward, flush the bad, learn from the bad and build on the good,” Criswell said. “I think we’ve learned if we don’t play really well, we can get beat by anybody.”
Permian will go into the bi-district round showdown with a 23-9 overall record, while El Paso Pebble Hills will come in at 19-9.
The teams start their series at 2 p.m. Friday at McCanlies Field and play Game 2 at 11 a.m. Saturday at El Paso Socorro High School.
If necessary, Game 3 will be played at 2 p.m. Saturday at the same venue.
Gregory said having players with postseason experience will be beneficial when the Spartans come into town.
“It can get nerve-racking, some of these kids that didn’t experience that last year, they’re going to be nervous,” Gregory said. “Hopefully they’ll be able to listen to us, take our advice and slow their heart rate down and focus on what they can do.”
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