Now the city league has to finish up its season in the next week or so.

South Panola baseball team takes the mound Friday night on the road in Independence at 4:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon, the Tigers will host its home opener against Grenada at 2 p.m.
Under new head coach Patrick Robey, the Tigers have been working very hard the past few months just for this moment. The team has had to learn some new things in order to prepare for the upcoming season.

South Panola will have a tough season with some state ranked teams on the schedule.

South Panola also welcomes back Jeff Walls to the coaching ranks. Walls is a former South Panola football and baseball player. He went on to get some collegiate experience under his belt. Now, he’s back to share that with the team.

A coach with some pro experience and Walls’ experience should even out the odds for the Tigers.

Not only that with the help of the Batesville Job Corps students, American Legion Field looks more like a competitive ball field. The new look of the dugouts and centerfield just might intimidate some of the opponents. We can only hope.

Not only will baseball get started so will South Panola Lady Tiger fastpitch softball. Fastpitch is getting more and more competitive each year. Even coach Kim Wilson has had to learn a few things to keep the team competitive with some of its state championship opponents.

For the first time ever, The Panolian is producing a Spring Sports edition for you to get a sneak look of the teams who will be playing this year. The edition will hit the streets Friday, Feb. 21, just in time for the opening of the baseball season.

Even though it’s the spring sports season, we still have to don the clothes we wore at the end of the football season.

Being inside with basketball kind of makes one timid to go outside in the cold.

It was rocky from the start, though the Lady Cougars only trailed by 14, at the half, with the score 40-26. The Lady Cougars were not prepared for the fast paced runnin’ and gunnin’ of Independence. Both teams met during the regular season, with the Lady Wildcats the victor in both contests.

"There will be a change in the second half," said head coach George Parks. The change went from bad to worse. The Lady Cougars appeared a bit sluggish and could not keep up with the Lady Wildcats. Frustration and exhaustion was apparent on their faces.

It was a disappointing win for some of the parents, also. They continued to encourage the team on, even after the loss became a reality.

Returning next season to give it another try is Whitney Whitehead, who scored 20 points and was 6 of 11 from the free throw line. She was the high scorer of the game and for most of the season, scoring as many as 35 in one game.

Senior Laquita Hardy pumped in 10, but that does not reflect how she hustled for the ball, and fought tooth and nail until the final horn sounded. Otisha Porter did not have her usual three point shootout night. She scored only seven points, but will be back next season.

Natonya Webb added two, as did departing senior Alicia Jackson.  Latasha Roberson, who will also return next season, along with Webb, scored five points.