Softball Game Preview: Benton Central Bison vs. Pioneer Panthers

The Benton Central Bison will venture away from home to square off against the Pioneer Panthers at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Benton Central will roll into the match after a wild two-game stretch: they didn't score any runs on Saturday, then bounced right back against Frontier on Monday. The Bison put the hurt on the Falcons with a sharp 12-2 win. The victory continues a trend for the Bison in their matchups with the Falcons: they've now won four in a row.

Kennedy Dowell

Hits (Career)

05/19/25 @ Frontier	2
05/15/25 @ Harrison	1
05/01/25 vs Lafayette Central Catholic	1
04/30/25 @ Twin Lakes	1

Benton Central let Kennedy Dowell and Madison Minniear run wild. Dowell went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI, while Minniear went 2-for-3 with four RBI and two runs. Those two hits gave Dowell a new career-high. Izzy Adams was another key player, going 1-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Pioneer waltzed into their game on Tuesday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They walked away with a 5-2 win over the Comets.

Lois Layer spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered two runs (both of which were unearned) on one hit and racked up eight Ks.

At the plate, Pioneer's victory was truly a team effort as three different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Hollie Zellers, who went 2-for-4 with one triple and one run.

Pioneer pushed their record up to 19-10 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Benton Central, their record is now 7-19.

Benton Central suffered a grim 15-2 defeat to Pioneer in their previous matchup two weeks ago. Can the Bison avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.