Baseball Recap: Hillcrest Picks Up Third Consecutive Victory

Panthers

Margin (Wins)

02/27/26 vs Bowie	12
03/27/26 vs Sunset	10
02/20/26 vs Bowie	10
02/19/26 vs Mabank	9
04/04/26 @ Newman Smith	8

Hillcrest had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 3.5 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. They put the hurt on the Newman Smith Trojans with a sharp 9-1 victory. Considering the Panthers have won eight matchups by more than six runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.

Jean Pierre Paternina was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. What's more, he posted four strikeouts, the most he's had since back in February. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and one double.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Elias Garcia, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with three RBI and one run. Another player making a difference was Ethan Pacheco, who went 2-for-3 with one triple, one run, and one RBI.

Hillcrest's record now sits at 20-2. As for Newman Smith, their loss was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 2-13.

Coming up, Hillcrest will face off against Keller Central at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (the Panthers 2.2, the Chargers 4) so any runs scored will be well earned. As for Newman Smith, they will take on Creekview at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.