Softball Game Preview: Clay County Tigers vs. Knox Central Panthers

vs

Previous Games

04/29/24 - Away	8-6 W
04/29/24 - Away	9-7 W
04/16/24 - Home	4-3 W
04/16/24 - Home	5-3 W
04/13/23 - Away	4-8 L
+ 5 more games

Clay County has gone 8-2 against Knox Central recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Tigers will be playing at home against the Panthers at 6:00 p.m.

Monday just wasn't the day for Clay County's offense. They took a 5-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of North Laurel on Monday. The loss continues a trend for the Tigers in their meetings with the Jaguars: they've now lost eight in a row.

Meanwhile, Knox Central never let their opponents score on Monday. They put the hurt on Barbourville with a sharp 16-0 win. The Panthers not only won on Monday, but they posted their biggest win since March 27th (when they won 20-2).

Blakely Castle was a major factor no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run over five innings pitched. What's more, she posted five strikeouts, the most she's had since back in March. She was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with one home run and one double.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Hannah Melton, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, four runs, and two stolen bases. Those four runs gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Jayme Swafford, who went 2-for-4 with three runs, three RBI, and two doubles.

Knox Central is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-6-1 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.4 runs on average over those games. As for Clay County, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-10.

Clay County came out on top in a nail-biter against Knox Central in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, sneaking past 8-6. Do the Tigers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Panthers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.