Softball Preview: North Central Panthers vs. Zionsville Eagles
North Central is 1-6 against Zionsville since May of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Wednesday. The North Central Panthers will head out on the road to face off against the Zionsville Eagles at 5:30 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
North Central took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Monday. They had just enough and edged Guerin Catholic out 13-12.
North Central got a big performance out of Eliza Rammel, who went 1-for-4 with a triple, a run, and an RBI. Taylor Nickols was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Zionsville had just enough and edged Franklin Central out 3-1 on Saturday. The win made it back-to-back victories for Zionsville.
Leah Helton made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over seven innings pitched. Helton has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in eight consecutive pitching appearances. Helton was also solid in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with two doubles.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Emma Vargo, who went 1-for-2 with a home run. Another player making a difference was Sylvia Mudis, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
North Central's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-11. As for Zionsville, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 13-6 record this season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Wednesday. North Central hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.4 home runs per game. However, it's not like Zionsville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.8. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
