Silver Creek/Forestville’s Thomas Hogg celebrates after a second inning double against Clymer/Sherman/Panama on Monday in a nonleague game in Panama. OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman

PANAMA — Clymer/Sherman/Panama has dreams of making a return trip to the state final four after losing just a few seniors from last season’s Section VI Class D championship team.

If the Wolfpack is going to return to the Binghamton area in June, they’re going to have to do it in Class C this year.

Jake Marino’s team flexed its offensive muscle for the first time this spring Monday.

Sophomore Tate Catanese went 3 for 3 with an RBI, a stolen base and three runs scored; senior Austin White went 2 for 3 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored; sophomore Bryce Hinsdale was 2 for 2 with three runs scored; and junior Kaden Beckerink, hitting in the No. 9 hole, went 2 for 4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored as Clymer/Sherman Panama pounded out 12 hits, including eight in the final two innings, en route to a 15-5 five-inning victory over nonleague Silver Creek/Forestville.

“Coming out the last couple of innings, they finally started getting some good at-bats put together,” Marino said. “I think they finally started feeling comfortable in the box and they showed what they can do.”

A sloppy first inning was a distant memory for the Wolfpack by the time the two-and-a-half-hour affair was finished just prior to sunset in southern Chautauqua County.

Clymer/Sherman/Panama led 8-3 midway through the game and put it away with seven runs over its final two at-bats.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Catanese and Hinsdale led off with back-to-back singles before junior Grant Lictus hit into an RBI fielder’s choice that left runners at first and third after the Black Knights committed their fourth of fifth errors in the game.

“You can imagine what we are going to see tomorrow. … That is a lot of fly balls and seeing if we can get underneath the ball … a lot of defensive placement so that kids know where to go,” Silver Creek/Forestville head coach Mike Janisch said. “They should understand this, but it doesn’t seem like they have picked that up very well.”

After a strikeout, Beckerink hit an RBI infield single and White plated the Wolfpack’s eighth run when Silver Creek/Forestville dropped a fly ball in right field.

“He had some really good at-bats. He always puts together a tough at-bat, especially at the bottom of the order for us,” Marino said of Beckerink. “It’s really nice to have that guy down there in the No. 9 spot to turn the lineup over and have some speed on the bases when we’re ready to go again.”

The Black Knights got a pair of runs back in the top of the fifth inning when senior Joe Villafranca walked and went to second on senior Brayson Parsell’s single behind second base. Villafranca eventually scored on junior John Steinwachs’ infield single and Parsell came around to score on a wild pitch.

“These kids have to believe in themselves. Unfortunately, they are not a really confident group. We hope that we can teach them enough to be confident in those situations so that they can come back,” Janisch said. “The whole game, they were not 1-2-3 up and down, they were getting on base. … They were at least working to where they need to be to be in ball games.”

Needing four runs to put the game away in their half of the fifth inning, the Wolfpack went to work. With one out, Catanese singled to right field and Hinsdale singled in between first and second. Lictus then hammered a two-run single to the outfield and Beckerink hit a two-out double before White drove in the final two runs with a single.

“I think after he got settled in on the mound, he started feeling a little bit more confident in his pitches,” Marino said of White. “He felt good, and it showed at the plate and on the mound.”

White started on the mound for Clymer/Sherman/Panama and settled in after a rough first inning. He allowed three runs on four hits, two walks and a hit batter while striking out once. Catanese threw the final two innings, allowing two runs on two hits, two walks and a hit batter while striking out four.

“I told Tate at the beginning of the year that I expect big things out of him this year,” Marino said. “He has big shoes to fill. I expect him to fill those fully.”

Shawn Kelly, Max Vigue and Steinwachs combined to walk nine while striking out eight.

“He’s got to get better consistency when he gets into the count,” Janisch said of Kelly. “Too many times he was behind on the count. When you do that, you have to groove pitches. When you’re not throwing well, grooving pitches is a problem becasue sometimes you can’t do it.”

NOTES: Parsell had three singles while Villafranca and junior Thomas Hogg doubled for Silver Creek/Forestville, which will visit Ellicottville for its Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 3 opener Wednesday. … Seniors Gabe Roth and Trent Burchanowski doubled for Clymer/Sherman/Panama, which will open CCAA Division 2 play at Brocton on Wednesday.