The Pinewood Panthers’ softball team started its spring season last weekend at a tournament in Myrtle Beach.
On Friday, Pinewood defeated Bishop England 9-1 in their opening game and continued with their winning way by beating Socastee 4-3. The two wins meant Pinewood went into the next day’s play as the No. 1 seed in its bracket.
The first game on Saturday was against Waccamaw and playing the No. 2 team in the State for AAA proved to be too much as Pinewood lost 2-9.  The second game put Pinewood up against Georgetown and in a close and exciting game Pinewood came out with a 4-3 win.
The final game was against Summerville High School where some errors cost Pinewood and Summerville went on to win 11-2.  Head Coach John Eckley was pleased with the team’s performance.
“The ladies played some exciting ball and overall we scored 21 runs in 5 games,” he said. “We were never intimidated by the competition and the team represented themselves and Pinewood well.”
The Pinewood Panthers’ golf team opened its 2010 season with a sixth-place finish in the Patriot Invitational held at Wescott last weekend. This year, 25 teams competed in the event.
Senior Lushen Evans led the Panthers, shooting 80-76 for a 156 total to finish eighth out of 144 golfers. Richard Hubbard shot 77-81 for a 158 total and an eleventh-place finish.  Overall the Panthers shot 648 to finish behind tournament champion Blythewood out of Columbia.  The Panthers open region play this week when they travel to Manning to take on Porter Gaud, Northwood Academy, Hilton Head Christian and Hilton Head Prep.