The Permian baseball team took care of business in the last week of the regular season and punched its ticket to the Class 6A state playoffs.
After missing out on last year’s playoffs, the Panthers made sure there was no repeat as Permian won two out of its three-game series against Midland High this past weekend.
“Anytime you can make the postseason out of this district is a big deal because of the quality of teams that are in our district,” Permian head coach Tate Criswell said. “I’m proud of that.”
Permian (17-16-1 overall, 7-8 in District 2-6A) finished fourth in the district standings.
The Panthers will now have to go up against District 1-6A champions El Paso Americas in this week’s bi-district series.
Permian will be on the road for each of this week’s games beginning with game one at 7 p.m. Friday, followed by game two at 1 p.m. Saturday and, if necessary, game three that same day.
All of the games will take place in El Paso.
The Americas Trailblazers (25-6-1, 14-2) enter the series, having won the District 1-6A title by two games.
Coached by Jesse Munoz, the Trailblazers made it to the regional quarterfinals last season.
“They’ve always got a good team every year,” Criswell said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Criswell is proud of how his team responded in last week’s series against the Bulldogs.
After losing game one 17-11 Thursday at McCanlies Field, the Panthers easily won their next two contests, winning 9-0 in a shutout victory on Friday at Zachary Field in Midland before clinching the series with an 11-2 win Saturday back at home.
“We played really good defense and we hit very well,” Criswell said. “Friday, we pitched really well. I’m overall pleased. We pitched better on Saturday. Offensively and defensively, any time you can score 11 runs in game one, nine in game two and 11 in game three, that’s almost 30 runs. Can’t be upset with that.”
Midland High (20-12, 10-5) finished second in District 2-6A while Wolfforth Frenship (25-7-1, 14-1) finished first.
Midland Legacy (16-16-1, 7-8) took third after defeating Odessa High 5-4 on Saturday in Midland.
As far as what the Panthers will be focusing on in practice this week, Criswell said “everything.”
“We’re going to give our arms a little bit of a rest on Monday and then get back on the mound later on,” Criswell said. “We’re going to put a heavy emphasis on defense and offense and base running as well.”
