The Washington Panthers will head out to face off against the Dunlap Eagles at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Washington comes in on 11 and Dunlap on seven.
Washington barely beat East Peoria the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Panthers blew past the Raiders 14-4 on Tuesday. The result was nothing new for the Panthers, who have now won 14 matchups by six runs or more so far this season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Dunlap). Everything went their way against Canton on Tuesday as they made off with a 15-2 win. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest victory of the season.
Sutton Centoni was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out ten batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned runs off three hits (and not a single walk). She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in 16 consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-5 with two RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Kaitlyn Atkinson, who fired off two home runs, four runs, and four RBI while going 4-for-4. That's the most hits she has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Rachel Mies, who went 3-for-4 with one home run, three runs, and two RBI.
Dunlap was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .500. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in three consecutive contests.
Washington pushed their record up to 25-2 with the win, which was their eighth straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for Dunlap, their record now sits at 23-4.
Washington suffered a grim 7-0 defeat to Dunlap in their previous matchup back in April. Can the Panthers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
