By Brad Greer

The North Panola Cougar baseball team took its first loss of the season with a 21-2 setback to Strayhorn Monday.

Game two of the scheduled doubleheader was called off due to poor lighting on the Mustang field.

Jordan Webb and Daries Bramlett accounted for the only runs for North Panola (1-1) in the second inning. Webb led off the frame with a walk and later scored on an error. Bramlett later singled and scored on a Strayhorn error.

“My message to the team pre-game was to keep it simple, to hit, catch and throw the ball. Strayhorn did that and we didn’t today, “ said North Panola head coach Dewayne Nichols.

“Strayhorn is a good team and is probably the toughest on our schedule so I wanted to play them early in the season to giver guys the understanding of what good baseball looked like. They put the ball in play and exposed areas we need to keep improving on. The score was not what we wanted, but a few guys really stepped up,’ said Nichols.

Freshman Laderius Holiday has proven himself as one of the more consistent pitchers according to Nichols.

“Overall it is never easy to or fun to lose, but I feel like this game was important for us to take the next step. We’ll learn from it and move on and hopefully be a better team because of it,” said Nicholas.

North Panola visited Charleston Thursday and will host Rosa Fort today at American Legion Field in Batesville beginning at 5 p.m.