Senior first baseman Preston Cash wouldn’t know it till the end of the game, but it would be the last time he would take the field in a Har-Ber uniform, for either of his two sports.

“[It feels] terrible man, being a two sport guy. I almost always had Har-Ber across my chest year around, and to know that it’s not going to happen anymore is real tough,” said Cash.

With expectations through the roof for the football team to repeat, and for baseball to make a run at state, Cash had a real shot at multiple rings, but hope for his second fell quickly to Cabot in the opening round.

Previously beating Cabot 11-0 earlier in the season, May 13 would be a different story as the Panthers defeated the Har-Ber Wildcats 8-7 in a thriller to begin the 2011 7A State Baseball Tournament. 

Har-Ber pressed a three run cushion heading into the fifth inning giving up only three runs to that point.

All seeming improbable for a Cabot comeback, all seeming wrong, as the Panthers pitching stayed strong in the final three innings, and the hitting answered with five runs of their own.
    

After Cabot scored in the top of the sixth, Har-Ber answered back in the bottom of the inning, but to no avail, for Cabot put one more on the board to end it.

With minimal seniors leaving, next year will be filled with experience for the returnees from Har-Ber.

“We already are excited about next year because this past year we were a young team and knew that this next year we would be smarter with the game of baseball and have more experience in game situations. Our goals are to improve more on our pitching in the off season and to make a state title run,” said sophomore outfielder Hunter Patrick.