Tammy Hosier and the Panama Panthers carried a 12-1 regular season record into the playoffs before losing to eventual state finalist North Collins. Photo by Deb Bailey

Panama faced a difficult task on the softball diamond this spring, trying to replicate the success of its state-championship volleyball team and state runner-up basketball team.

But the Panthers gave it their best shot and if not for North Collins’ Cinderella season, Panama could have seen its season end in the eastern part of New York state as well.

Panama steamrolled through the regular season to the tune of a 12-1 record, its only blemish at the hands of Section VI Class C1 finalist Cassadaga Valley.

The Panthers and Cougars split the regular-season Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 West crown with matching 11-1 league records.

Once the postseason arrived, Panama beat Pine Valley, 8-4, in the Class D quarterfinals before running into a North Collins squad on a mission.

“They want to win, they know what they have to do to win,” Panama coach Tammy Hosier said following the quarterfinal win. “They just never give up.”

The Eagles ending up advancing to the sectional final by virtue of an 11-1 win, ending a very successful season for the girls from Panama.

As a team, the Panthers hit .321 with 17 doubles, 15 triples and four home runs. Panama outscored its opponents, 151-73. The offense also reached base at a .383 clip with a .443 slugging percentage.

“Hitting is such a momentum thing,” Hosier said after her team’s playoff win against Pine Valley. “That’s what we keep saying, it’s contagious. … We’ve got to keep everybody up because once it starts, it just keeps going.”

Sophomore catcher Madalyn Bowen was named a CCAA Division 2 West co-Player of the Year after a season in which she hit .431 with two doubles, two triples, two home runs, 24 RBIs and 21 runs scored. Junior third baseman Elle Angeletti was also named a CCAA Division 2 West First-Team All-Star after hitting .385 with five doubles, a home run, 12 RBIs and 20 runs scored. Senior pitcher Francine Torres joined her teammates on the First Team after hitting .333 with three doubles, two triples, 12 RBIs and eight runs scored to go along with her 8-1 record in the circle, striking out 54 and walking 22 in 54 innings pitched.

Senior first baseman Tara Sweeney (.286, 17 runs, 11 RBIs), sophomore shortstop Maci Johnson (.340, one double, three triples, 18 runs, nine RBIs) and eighth-grade pitcher Ashlyn Harvey (.327, two doubles, five triples, one home run, 16 runs, nine RBIs) were all named league Second-Team All-Stars.

All of the success may not have been possible if not for Hosier, who also led many of the same girls to their state volleyball championship just a few months earlier.

Losing Torres and Sweeney next year will be difficult, but with so many underclassmen returning for another kick at the can, it would be no surprise to see the Panthers right back in the thick of the sectional title hunt in all three sports next year.

“We had a great season,” Hosier said after the playoff loss to North Collins. “I started coaching in 2012, we’ve been in the sectional semifinals for every year except for one. We’ve got to get over that hump. … They do feed off each other and they’re a great group of kids. … Next year, we’re going to get to that sectional final.”

For instilling a winning culture in volleyball that has spilled over to the basketball court and softball diamond in Panama, and for leading the Panthers to a regular-season league title, Hosier is this spring’s Post-Journal Softball Coach of the Year.