The Lecanto Panthers are taking a road trip to face off against The Villages Charter Buffalo at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Lecanto has four straight victories, The Villages Charter has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
It was a proper cat-fight when Lecanto challenged Dunnellon on Thursday. Lecanto skirted past Dunnellon 4-2.
Abigail Males
| 03/13/25 vs Dunnellon | 14 |
| 03/11/25 vs Hernando | 15 |
| 03/07/25 @ Central | 15 |
| 03/04/25 @ Citrus | 11 |
Abigail Males spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned runs on four hits and racked up 14 Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than 11 strikeouts in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Lecanto's win was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Shawna Griffin, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, while it was The Villages Charter who put the first points on the board on Wednesday, it was Santa Fe who put up more. The Villages Charter fell just short of Santa Fe by a score of 6-4. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Buffalo have suffered since April 16, 2024.
Lexy Sanchez was cooking despite her team's loss, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
Lecanto pushed their record up to 6-6 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.7 runs over those games. As for The Villages Charter, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Lecanto has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like The Villages Charter struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Lecanto came up short against The Villages Charter when the teams last played back in February, falling 4-0. Can Lecanto avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
