Softball Game Preview: Shade Panthers vs. North Star Cougars

For the second straight game, Shade will face off against North Star. The Panthers will be playing at home against the Cougars at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Shade has five straight victories, North Star has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

It was a proper cat-fight when Shade faced off against North Star on Thursday. The Panthers blew past the Cougars 11-3. Considering the Panthers have won four contests by more than seven runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

Payton Maddy

Batters Struck Out (Career)

04/24/25 @ North Star	11
04/21/25 @ Rockwood	10
04/03/25 @ Ferndale	10
04/09/25 vs Turkeyfoot Valley Area	9
04/01/25 vs Rockwood	9

Payton Maddy made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out 11 batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off seven hits. Those 11 strikeouts gave her a new career-high. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with three runs and one double.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Tori Bowers, who went 2-for-4 with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. Jaedyn Krupper was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double.

Shade kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in five consecutive games.

Shade pushed their record up to 7-2 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.8 runs over those games. As for North Star, they now have a losing record of 4-5.

North Star's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Monday. Shade has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.9 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for North Star, though, as they've been averaging only 3.1 strikeouts. Will Shade keep running through batters, or will the Cougars buck the trend? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.