Looking Back - Panther Small Ball Swats Hornets

Coming into Friday night's championship game of the Galena Class 1A softball regional between the top seeded Hornets of SM/RR and Lena-Winslow, everyone knew that runs would be at a premium. With two of the best young pitchers on the mound for their respective teams, hits were hard to come by so the Panthers looked for other ways to put the ball in play.

"We knew they were going to play small ball," said Hornet head coach Steve Winter. "That's how they came back against us the last time we played. We talked about it, we worked on it, but ... it just wasn't there tonight."

In the top of the thi...