The Elder Panthers will face off against the Archbishop McNicholas Rockets at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Elder is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Ohio's top teams: Badin, who was ranked first at the time (Elder was ranked 22nd). The Panthers fell 5-2 to the Rams last Wednesday. The Panthers haven't had much luck with the Rams recently, as the team has come up short the last five times they've met.
Caleb McComas spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered five runs (all of which were unearned) on six hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one walk in three consecutive appearances.
Mason Chumbley
| 05/13/26 vs Badin | 1 |
| 05/12/26 vs Ross | 1 |
| 05/11/26 vs Summit Country Day | 2 |
At the plate, Elder saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Mason Chumbley, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base. Chumbley is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Archbishop McNicholas). They never let Goshen get on the board and left with a 14-0 win on Thursday. The victory was familiar territory for the Rockets, who have now won three games in a row.
Nathan Kramer looked comfortable as he struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit.
On the hitting side, Archbishop McNicholas got a massive performance out of Chad Dannemiller, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. That's the most RBI Dannemiller has posted since back in April. Evan Sandfoss was another key player, going 2-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base.
Archbishop McNicholas was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .520. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
Elder's loss dropped their record down to 15-11. As for Archbishop McNicholas, their win bumped their record up to 19-8.
Everything went Elder's way against Archbishop McNicholas when the teams last played back in May of 2022, as Elder made off with a 10-0 victory. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Rockets have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
