Baseball Game Preview: Birch Run Panthers vs. New Lothrop Hornets

The Birch Run Panthers are taking a road trip to challenge the New Lothrop Hornets at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. Birch Run has given up an average of 9.8 runs per game this season, but Monday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Thursday just wasn't the day for Birch Run's offense. They came up short against Garber on Thursday, falling 15-0. The defeat continues a trend for the Panthers in their meetings with the Dukes: they've now lost five in a row.

Meanwhile, New Lothrop's hitters rose to the challenge against a Tigers pitching crew that boasted an average of only 3.7 runs allowed on Saturday. The Hornets walked away with a 10-6 win over Caro. The Hornets haven't had any issues with the Tigers recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive victory against them.

New Lothrop let Hayden Wendling and Michael Schlachter run wild. Wendling went a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBI, one triple, and one run, while Schlachter went a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs, one stolen base, and one double. That's the most runs Schlachter has posted since back in April of 2024. Jameson Kopschitz also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.

New Lothrop kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 3 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 contests they've averaged 10.

The win got New Lothrop back to even at 5-5. As for Birch Run, their loss dropped their record down to 1-4.