BASTIAN, Va. – The Northwood High School baseball team has made an important statement this spring. The Panthers are no longer a pushover.

“It’s a different team at Northwood this year,” said second-year head coach Lawrence Keith. “They play hard every inning and never quit. I’m so tickled with them.”

The Panthers continued their turnaround season Saturday afternoon by posting a 6-5 eight-inning victory over fellow Hogoheegee District member Holston in the finals of the Yo-Na Invitational at Skip Dillow Memorial Field in Bland County.

Northwood (5-4) has won five of its last six games and has already eclipsed last year’s win total.

“Last year to this year, we’ve made a big improvement,” said infielder/pitcher Austin Robbins. “Last year was a little bit of a struggle, but we’ve got a bunch of boys right now that are willing to work in practice and give everything they’ve got in a game and we don’t ever give up.”

The Panthers needed every bit of that resiliency Saturday, trailing by three runs with three outs to go.

However, Northwood pushed across three runs in the top of the seventh – via RBIs from Sean Yarber, Josh Jennings and Chaz Jones – to knot the score at five and force extra innings.

That’s when Robbins came through.

He scored the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth with two outs, racing home when a hard hit to third base by Jason Prater was mishandled.

“We needed a good hit right there and he came through for us,” Robbins said of Prater.

Robbins then clinched the victory and tourney title by striking out the side in the bottom of the eighth.

“He’s just a baseball player,” Keith said. “He’s a good athlete all-around and he’s a guy, when you bring him in and count on him, he’s going to deliver.”

Northwood went just 4-17 last year, winning one district game, and compiling a .189 team batting average.

The Panthers’ lineup is much more potent in 2011. Prater, Jennings and Stanton Thompson each had two hits Saturday, while Yarber drove in two runs.

“I think we’re up around .240 or .250 [team batting average] this year,” Keith said. “That’s a real big improvement for us. These kids have worked really hard. They get in the batting cage and [do] tee drills every day. They work hard.”

How much better exactly are the Panthers?

“They are the most improved team in Southwest Virginia,” said Holston coach Adam Moore. “They are well-coached, they’ve got kids that throw strikes and have breaking balls they throw for strikes and they’re scrappy at the plate. They’ve gained confidence through this tournament and hats off to ’em. They did a good job.”

Things unraveled late for Holston (7-4) as Moore was ejected in the bottom of the sixth inning after disagreeing with a call by the home plate umpire that ruled a baserunner missed touching third base on the way home.

The Cavaliers then allowed the seventh-inning rally.

Dakota Barlow and Nathan Blevins each had two hits to pace the Cavs.

Holston put together the best season in school history last spring, qualifying for the Region C tournament and winning 16 games. This year’s version of the Cavaliers has several new faces.

“We’re a scrappy bunch and we’re going to have some good days and we’re going to have some bad ones,” Moore said.

Holston and Northwood could both earn postseason bids this season as the Virginia High School League has implemented its divisional system in baseball.

As for now, the confidence is soaring for the squad from Saltville.

“We do have a lot of confidence,” Robbins said. “We just need to keep building on that.”

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