POULSBO — In her first season as Poulsbo Junior High fastpitch coach, Cheryl Case said she’s been blessed not only with the players on this year’s Panthers team but the parents of those players as well.

“I was gifted with a wonderful group of hard working and talented young ladies,” Case said, “but also a great group of parents that made my job a lot easier.”

That, no doubt, made a difference in the coach’s first varsity season, her second with the team after coaching the JVs a year ago. It was also apparent in the team’s 6-4 record.

After see-sawing the first six games at .500, the team steadied itself to take three of the final four, a result which came from the team’s improvement on both sides of the diamond, Case said.

“Our team demonstrates powerful hitting, backed up by good defense,” she commented. “Overall, I’m very impressed with these girls and look forward to hearing (their successes at) high school.”

That powerful hitting proved itself over the team’s six wins, with the Panthers beating rivals by an average of about 10 runs in that span, including three home runs by Poulsbo’s Josie Ball to lead the team. In contrast, Poulsbo lost its four games by an average of less than four runs per game.

The team ended the year in a slug fest with rivals the Kingston Cavs June 3, losing 18-13 to end the year. The Panthers had previously beaten Kingston by a 6-5 margin. Despite the high score of the final game, Case said it was actually won by the team’s defensive efforts.

“When you have two equally good teams like that,” Case said, “it comes down to a matter of who makes the most errors.”

Seven of the team’s varsity players will be moving up to North Kitsap High School, and Case said all will try out for the Vikings’ team. That means she still has six players to work with next year and a group with which she shares a special relationship.

“The girls that started in seventh grade when I started will be ninth graders,” Case said. “And they’re an excellent group of ladies.”