Winning innings.

That has been the primary goal this season for Panther Valley head baseball coach Rich Evanko and his Panthers, and PV has been one of the best in all of District 11 this season at doing just that.

The Panthers’ strong play from both the mound and the plate has been their winning recipe this season, and on Tuesday in their District 11 3A quarterfinal match-up with Executive Education, PV used those two facets of the game to help them come away with a 10-0 victory over the Raptors.

“The goal every year for every game is to win the inning. It doesn’t matter if you win an inning 1-0, as long as you win the inning, and when you consistently win innings, you win games,” said Evanko.

“We came out today and Ty Black got off to a good start for us from the mound, and then Michael Pascoe came through with a big hit for us in the first, to help us win the first inning, and then after the first we were really able to put it all together.”

Black retired the Raptors in order in the first - including two strikeouts - and then Pascoe got the offense going with a solo bomb to center field that bounced off the PV insignia halfway up the hill, to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead after one.

“I was ready to jump on something, and his first pitch to me was a pretty good one - it was middle-middle - and I hit it hard. I saw my pitch and fortunately, I was able to get to it,” said Pascoe. “We have a saying that we like ‘to pass the stick.’ If we put together good at bats and ‘pass the stick’, then runs will produce themselves.”

PV (21-2) did start putting together some nice at-bats after the first, scoring two runs in the second and four runs in the third to jump out to a commanding 7-0 advantage. Brody Breiner, Drew Kokinda, Pascoe and Cody Orsulak all came through with hits during that span.

All the while, Black kept dealing from the mound. Black struck out two more in the second, retired three in a row in the third and then struck out two more in the fourth. He finished the day pitching four innings, giving up just one hit and striking out six.

“My goal coming in was just to pound the zone,” said Black. “Early on, I could locate my pitches, and then I just wanted to get the ball in there. I knew if they put balls in play, that I have a great defense to support me behind the mound.

“Then, of course, these guys always provide good run support, and we had that today as well.”

The Panthers added two more runs in the fifth inning to put the game away, with Breiner and Hayden Goida both coming through with RBIs. Brad Hood and Orsulakv got PV off to a good start in the inning with two singles.

Pascoe then entered the game in the bottom of the fifth in relief, striking out the side to complete the 10-0 shutout win.

BATTER UP … Orsulak led the Panthers with three hits, while Pascoe and Breiner both added two. Johan Cabrera had the lone hit for the Raptors.

99 … Pascoe is just one hit away from 100 in his career, which is an exceptional accomplishment considering he missed his freshman year due to the COVID-19 cancellation of spring sports in 2020.

NEXT UP … The No. 2-seeded Panthers will now take on No. 6 seed Central Catholic in the District 11 3A semifinal at Tamaqua on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Panther Valley 124 3x - 10 9 1

Executive Ed. 000 00 - 0 1 3

Black, Pascoe (5) and Orsulak; Roa and Rodriguez. W - Black. L - Roa. HR: Panther Valley - Pascoe (1st, none on).