Softball Game Preview: Manteno Panthers vs. Seneca Fighting Irish

The Manteno Panthers will head out to face off against the Seneca Fighting Irish at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Manteno sitting on three straight wins and Seneca on 25.

On Thursday, Manteno needed a bit of extra time to put away Joliet Catholic. They had just enough and edged out the Hilltoppers 11-10.

Marquette typically has all the answers at home, but on Thursday Seneca proved too difficult a challenge. They walked away with an 11-7 victory over the Crusaders. 11 seems to be a good number for the Fighting Irish as the team scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.

Seneca pushed their record up to 25-0 with the victory, which was their 19th straight on the road dating back to last season. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.1 runs on average over those games. As for Manteno, their victory bumped their record up to 17-4.

Manteno skirted past Seneca 5-3 in their previous meeting back in May of 2023. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Fighting Irish have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.