Fort Stockton’s offense has been a strong suit for the Panthers all season.

That was far from the case in their district matchup against Greenwood on April 9 in a home contest against the Rangers.

Greenwood starting pitcher Jaxon Ramos was nearly flawless in his complete-game outing, striking out 12 batters, allowing two hits, and walking four in the Rangers’ 3-0 victory.

The shutout defeat was the second scoreless game of the season for the Panthers, the first being an 8-0 loss to McAllen Rowe on March 4.

At the plate, Fort Stockton was averaging 6.6 hits a game and 9.5 runs per game coming into last Friday’s contest.

The Panthers’ pitching staff had strong showing of their own outside of a three-run third inning for the Rangers. Felipe Sotelo got his fourth start of the season and threw a season-high four innings before his stint was done on the mound.

Sotelo tallied a seasonhigh three strikeouts, walked three, and allowed two hits before Julian Leyva took over pitching duties for the final three innings. Leyva, a sophomore, struck out four batters, allowed three hits and no walks.

Fort Stockton’s self-inflicted mistakes played a significant role in Greenwood’s three-run third inning. Greenwood’s first two batters of the inning made it on base via errors by the Panthers.

Kye Compton followed with a single and pair of walks ensued Compton’s hit. Fort Stockton escaped the inning with a double play and a Sotelo strikeout.

Daren Ureste and Alfredo Molina recorded one hit apiece for Fort Stockton.

Andrews’ defense shuts down Panthers

When Fort Stockton provided themselves an opportunity to rally against Andrews in a road match up on April 12, the Mustangs responded.

The Panthers stranded eight baserunners and Andrews turned three double plays in a 10-1 victory for the Mustangs.

On the stat sheet, the numbers showed it was a much closer contest than the final score indicated. Fort Stockton was outhit by a minimal margin (8- 6) and the Panthers committed one less error than the Mustangs (3-2).

Outside of the Panthers offense getting shutdown by three double plays, Fort Stockton was caught stealing once and were picked off for an out in two separate innings.

Fort Stockton junior Jaydrien Ramirez had a team-high two hits and four additional Panthers had one hit apiece. Panthers who record

Panthers who recorded a single hit were Xzavaier Dominguez, Ethan Acosta, Adrian Hernandez, and Marco Garcia.

Leyva got the start on the mound for Fort Stockton and the underclassman tallied two strikeouts, six walks, and six hits allowed in four innings.

Isaiah Velasquez pitched the final two innings and allowed two hits, no walks, and recorded one strikeout.

Fort Stockton is now tied for fifth in the district standings with Monahans after the loss with a 2-5 district record. The Panthers will host a critical game against Pecos for their next contest on April 19. The Eagles are 3-4 in district play.