Baseball Game Preview: Sardis Lions vs. Southside Panthers

A feisty cat fight will be fought as Sardis Lions face off against Southside Panthers at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Sardis's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They blew past Fort Payne 10-0. The Lions might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four contests by seven runs or more this season.

Sardis got a great performance from Brady Gazaway as he didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched.

At the plate, Sardis let Garrett Holland and Brian Chapman run wild. Holland scored a run while going 1-for-3, while Chapman got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs, one triple, and two RBI. That's the most runs Chapman has posted since back in March of 2024. Kaden Walters also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.

Sardis always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .594. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Fort Payne only posted an OBP of .250.

Meanwhile, Southside was able to grind out a solid victory over Cherokee County on Tuesday, taking the game 5-2. The win continues a trend for the Panthers in their matchups with the Warriors: they've now won four in a row.

The victory made it two in a row for Sardis and bumps their season record up to 6-5. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.5 runs on average over those games. As for Southside, their record is now 13-3.

Sardis was able to grind out a solid win over Southside in their previous meeting back in March of 2024, winning 9-6. The rematch might be a little tougher for Sardis since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.