The Paradise High School baseball team just might be the youngest in the county, but it is quickly maturing as the district playoff race heats up. The group has clearly put its district opening loss to Cisco behind.

With the exception of one inning, the Panthers played the kind of baseball that their coaches expect. They hit the ball consistently through seven innings with eight hits and only had one bad inning in a 7-6 home win over the Greyhounds.

Paradise saw a four-run lead disappear in the fifth inning. That's where the visitors cashed in on an error and a string of hits to score four runs and take a 6-5 lead.

Paradise was far from finished. The locals scored once in the sixth frame to even the score before punching in the game winner in the bottom of the last inning to take the decision.

"This game was an outstanding team effort," said PHS coach Scott Broussard. "Everyone on the team contributed something to the win. We are really starting to come together."

The win lifted Paradise to 2-1 in District 10-2A play and 8-5 for the season. PHS, meanwhile, stumbled to 0-3 and 5-6.

The Panthers were solid right from the start. Thanks to a 2-for-3 performance from P.J. Fuller, they manufactured two runs in the first and second innings to take a 4-1 lead.

Both teams managed solo runs in the fourth inning, which allowed Paradise to hold on to its three-run lead at 5-2.

The Greyhounds chased Toi Glover from the game after four innings. Cory Haley took over on the mound, but Peaster got to him, so Broussard was forced to make another change to get out of the inning.

That allowed Ryan Smart to take over and he eventually slammed the door shut on the visitors. Nick Pike threw the last two innings and did not allow a run.

Kaleb Read, Caleb Read, Justin Bridges, Braiden Black, Dusty Galbreiath and Pike all finished with base hits. Fuller crushed a double for the hardest hit of the night for Paradise, while Kaleb Read knocked in a pair of runs.