Baseball Preview: Johnston Panthers vs. West Warwick Wizards
Johnston is 4-0 against West Warwick since May of 2021, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. The Johnston Panthers are on the road again to play the West Warwick Wizards at 6:00 p.m. Both teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Johnston's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They put the hurt on Narragansett with a sharp 11-0 win. For those curious, yes, that was the biggest victory Johnston has managed all season.
The result came thanks to Ethan Bracey's shutout, as he gave up just three hits and racked up six Ks.
On the hitting side, Steven Finegan was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-2. Another player making a difference was Dean Paris, who scored a run while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
Meanwhile, West Warwick faced Rogers in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. West Warwick was the clear victor by an 11-1 margin over Rogers. West Warwick's win was nothing new given the team hasn't lost yet this season.
Logan Dean made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he pitched four innings while giving up just one earned run off six hits. Dean was also big at the plate, scoring a run while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Joshua Pedus, who scored four runs and stole two bases while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Karl Swanson was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
Johnston is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 5-4 record this season. As for West Warwick, their victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-0.
Johnston took their win against West Warwick when the teams last played back in May of 2022 by a conclusive 12-5. Does Johnston have another victory up their sleeve, or will West Warwick turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
