Fairbanks’ baseball lettermen are from left, front row, Jaeden Eickhoff, James Yoder, Alan Schnees and Wes Pyers; back row, John Pastirzyk, Braxton Wilhelm, Mason Smith and Alex Jones. The Panthers will play games in Myrtle Beach next week.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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The varsity baseball and softball teams from Fairbanks High School will be hitting the road in search of warmer climates during the coming days.
The Panther baseball squad will be returning to Myrtle Beach and the softball team will be going to Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
It’s all in an effort to play a handful of games under what will hopefully be warmer and drier weather situations.
“This is our fourth year of going to Myrtle Beach on our spring break,” said baseball head coach Josh Rine. “Along with playing games in better weather, this is also an opportunity to bring our players and their families closer together as a team.”
The Panthers are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Sunday against Cincinnati Mariemont and Uniontown High School from Pennsylvania.
Indian Creek High School (Maryland) will provide the opposition for a single game on Monday.
“These games will allow us to get a jump start on our season before coming back to Ohio,” said Rine. “The competition is always tough at Myrtle Beach.”
The Panthers played Uniontown during last year’s spring break excursion and fell 3-1 en route to compiling an overall record of 14-10.
They’ve played Mariemont the past two years in South Carolina.
“We beat them 5-4 two years ago and lost to them 2-1 in 10 innings last year,” said Rine.
The coach said that all four of his top pitchers – Wes Pyers, Connor Pack, Jaeden Eickhoff and Alan Schnees – will see duty during the trip.
Rine said he hopes to see his hurlers throw strikes and his hitters swing the bats well.
The Lady Panthers are making the trip to Pigeon Forge for the second consecutive year.
“All of the fields have turf and it’s gorgeous down there,” said head coach Amy Sines of the Ripken Experience facility.
FHS will play two games on Monday against Trinity High School of Pennsylvania and Rossford (Ohio) High School.
The squad will face Corry (Pa.) and Oswego (Illinois) high schools on Tuesday.
“I don’t have any information on any of those teams,” said Sines. “It’s really hard to know what to expect until you get down there.
“Getting an opportunity to play outdoors will be huge for us,” she said. “We want to work on our defense and also on hitting the ball.”
Both FHS teams are scheduled to play games very shortly after they return home.
Both are set to begin the Ohio portion of their schedules on Thursday, March 29 at Triad.