Softball Game Preview: Blue Ridge Knights vs. Paxton-Buckley-Loda Panthers

The Blue Ridge Knights are taking a road trip to challenge the Paxton-Buckley-Loda Panthers at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Blue Ridge will be strutting in after a victory while Paxton-Buckley-Loda will be coming in after a loss.

Blue Ridge's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They came out on top against Tri-County [Kansas/Shiloh/Oakland] by a score of 3-0. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Knights.

Ellie Schlieper

Base on Balls Against

04/18/25 @ Tri-County [Kansas/Shiloh/Oakland]	1
04/14/25 @ Argenta-Oreana	0
04/12/25 vs Georgetown-Ridge Farm	1
04/11/25 vs Cumberland	2

The result came thanks to Ellie Schlieper's shutout, as she gave up just five hits and racked up 14 Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Blue Ridge's win was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Addison Roos, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one double. Presley Hardesty also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen bases of the season.

Meanwhile, Paxton-Buckley-Loda was not able to break out of their rough patch on Monday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat. They took a 9-4 hit to the loss column at the hands of Clifton Central.

Hallee Johnson was cooking despite her team's loss, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with three stolen bases, two runs, and one triple.

Paxton-Buckley-Loda's loss dropped their record down to 3-13. As for Blue Ridge, their victory was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-3 and their overall record up to 5-7.