The Panthers had chances, but just couldn’t take advantages of said chances.

NRHEG was snake-bitten after pitcher Jack Schultz threw a no-hitter, but still lost 2-1 to St. James Thursday night.

“It’s certainly more than you can ask for,” said Panthers coach Drew Paukert. “(St. James) hit one ball hard against (Jack).”

Schultz got himself into some trouble in the second inning, an inning in which he walked three batters and St. James scored its first run because of it.

In the third inning, St. James answered NRHEG’s run with one of its own on a suicide squeeze play.

That play would be the deciding factor in the game.

“We had a number of opportunities,” Paukert said. “But we were unable to get that clutch hit.”

In six of the seven innings, the Panthers advanced a runner to second base, but some base-running miscues came back to hurt the Panthers, and their season ended because of it.

“I am extremely proud of this team,” Paukert said. “Three weeks ago, we were sitting as the No. 15 seed in the section.”

Cole Staloch and Sawyer VanMaldegham each had two hits for the Panthers, who finished the season with a record of 9-14.

“These guys could have easily hung their heads,” Paukert said. “To their credit, they kept coming to practice every day. They bought into the idea that it’s not how you start, but how you finish.”