Baseball Game Preview: North Central Eagles vs. Paulding Panthers

The North Central Eagles will head out on the road to face off against the Paulding Panthers at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. North Central is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.6 runs per game this season.

While North Central's win against Pettisville wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Eagles had just enough and edged out the Blackbirds 3-1. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Eagles.

Jackson Poynter spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on two hits and racked up eight Ks.

On the hitting side, North Central's victory was truly a team effort as three different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Garrett Shockley, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Paulding won against Wauseon on Saturday with nine runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Tuesday. Everything went the Panthers' way against Edon as they made off with a 9-0 win. The Panthers not only won on Tuesday, but they posted their biggest win since May 8th (when they won 12-0).

North Central's record now sits at 13-7. As for Paulding, their record is now 11-12.

North Central came out on top in a nail-biter against Paulding when the teams last played back in April of 2023, sneaking past 5-3. Do the Eagles have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Panthers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.