The Oak Grove Warriors will venture away from home to take on the Petal Panthers at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Oak Grove has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the game with three straight defeats, while Petal will come in with three straight wins.
Oak Grove's last matchup with Brandon could've gone either way, but unfortunately the same can't be said for the pair's match on Tuesday. The Warriors came up short against the Bulldogs, falling 16-2.
Oak Grove saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Abbie Merchant, who went 1-for-3 with one RBI.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Petal). Their pitcher stepped up to hand Pearl a 20-0 shutout on Tuesday. Considering the Panthers have won 12 contests by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Jaley Weathersby looked comfortable as she kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out eight over four innings pitched.
At the plate, Morgan Taylor was incredible, going 1-for-4 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in April of 2024. Another player making a difference was Kenleigh Morgan, who scored two runs while going 3-for-3.
Petal was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .531. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
Oak Grove now has a losing record of 10-11. As for Petal, their record is now 19-7.
Both the two teams just can't seem to miss. Oak Grove has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 8.9 hits per game. However, it's not like Petal struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 4.6 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Oak Grove might still be hurting after the 16-1 loss they got from Petal in their previous matchup two weeks ago. Can the Warriors avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
