Paschal pitcher’s wild weekend helps Panthers advance in baseball playoffs
When Fort Worth Paschal pitcher Owen Settle woke up on Friday morning, May 2, he had no idea the roller coaster ride he was about to take.
The Panthers had dropped Game 1 of their Class 5A Division I bi-district series, 5-4, to Burleson the night before and Settle, the Panthers’ No. 1 pitcher, was set to take the ball in Game 2 in hopes of forcing a Game 3 on Saturday, May 3.
Settle took the mound and allowed one run on one hit in the top of the first inning. Then things got strange.
“I talked to our pitching coach 20 minutes before Game 2 started and he asked me who was in the pen (bullpen) after Settle today,” said Paschal coach Clint Dunham. “I told him that Settle was going to get his 110 (pitches) today. My pitching coach asked me, and I swear to you, ‘what if we score eight runs in the first...would you yank him?’”
Dunham thought to himself for a minute and decided that eight was a lot of runs, so he said that yes, he probably would yank him.
It just so happens that the Panthers did just that. Paschal sent 12 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first and scored eight times so after just 17 pitches, Settle was sent out to center field for the rest of the game. Tex Shope took over on the mound and tossed 3.1 innings and Jackson Dyer went the final 2.2 to close out an 11-5 win for the Panthers.
With Game 2 in the bag, Paschal was in great position with Settle starting Game 3. Settle didn’t disappoint going five innings, scattering five hits and allowing one run with eight strikeouts.
The Panthers scored five times in the third highlighted by a pair of doubles by Edgar Lopez and Simon Pate that knocked in two runs each. An RBI single by Lopez in the fourth inning made it 6-1.
Settle left after five innings coming just one pitch short of his 110 pitch limit for the week. The junior could have come out for one more batter in the sixth, but Dunham decided against it opting for his next pitcher to come in “with a clean inning.”
Richard Gallardo took over on the mound and worked around an error and a walk in the sixth, but didn’t allow a run. Burleson loaded the bases against Garrardo in the seventh and, with two outs, got a pair of run scoring singles to cut the lead to 6-3.
“I looked out there and the bases were still loaded after the two runs scored and he (Settle) is out in center field waving his arms wanting to come in,” said Dunham, knowing Settle had one more batter left that he could face. “I didn’t want to do it, but I thought let’s go. He’s been our best arm all year and he’s just a kid that we’ve really leaned on this year.
“He’s kind of been the man for us. He’s done a great job.”
It took Settle six pitches, but he got his ninth strikeout to earn the win and the save in the same game.
“It was crazy,” said Settle of his wild ride. “To only throw 17 pitches on Friday, get pulled, throw 92 today and come out, and come back in and get the last out...incredible. It feels so great to be moving on. This team is just amazing and I couldn’t have done it without them.”
“It was a really big risk to take Settle out on Friday and save him for today,” said Lopez, the Paschal second baseman. “It was kind of demoralizing to lose that first game, but the second game of a series is the most important and to close out this third game was just really special.”
Lopez, a senior, was one of the offensive stars for the Panthers in the series going 6-for-10 with four runs scored and five RBI.
“The energy in our dugout is there,” said Dunham, whose team will take on Colleyville Heritage (18-11-1) in the area round next week. “In my 10 years here, Paschal baseball has been loud and we’re a tough out, even though we might not be the best team and this group is no different.”
Dunham added at the expectations are higher this year as well since Paschal has dropped down to Class 5A and might be able to do some things that they couldn’t do against 6A teams like Southlake Carroll and Keller.
“There’s a lot of confidence and a lot of young kids getting older and a lot of older kids leading the young ones,” said Dunham. “We have 12 seniors, but what’s unique is that not all of them get to play, but they provide quality energy all the time. It’s all positive. I’m just really proud of this team.”
This story was originally published May 4, 2025 at 12:19 AM.