The Oswego Panthers will head out on the road to square off against the Wheaton North Falcons at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Neither of those teams managed to put together many runs in their previous contests, so the offenses might be a little more motivated than usual.
It was a proper cat-fight when Oswego challenged Plainfield South on Monday. The Panthers fell just short of the Cougars by a score of 3-2. The loss was the Panthers' first of the season.
Aubriella Garza spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three earned runs on seven hits and racked up six Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one walk in four consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Oswego saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jaelynn Anthony, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Meanwhile, Wheaton North entered their contest against St. Charles North on Monday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. The Falcons took a 5-2 hit to the loss column at the hands of the North Stars. Falcons fans who chose to attend the game sure picked the wrong one: it was the first time the team's lost against the North Stars since on Monday.
Reagan Crosthwaite made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-2 with one home run. Another player making a difference was Makayla Hammer, who went 1-for-3 with one home run.
Having lost for the first time this season, Oswego fell to 21-1. As for Wheaton North, their defeat was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 6-1 and their overall record down to 17-3.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Tuesday. Oswego hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Wheaton North struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 1 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Oswego came out on top in a nail-biter against Wheaton North when the teams last played back in May of 2024, sneaking past 1-0. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Falcons have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
