Softball Game Preview: North Lamar Panthers vs. Sulphur Springs Wildcats

A feisty cat fight will be fought as North Lamar Panthers duke it out with Sulphur Springs Wildcats at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

North Lamar's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 19-0 margin over Paris. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Panthers.

Meanwhile, everything went Sulphur Springs's way against Pittsburg on Tuesday as Sulphur Springs made off with a 9-1 win. The Wildcats haven't had any issues with the Pirates recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive victory against them.

Hannah Speed was a major factor no matter where she played. On the mound, she didn't allow a single hit and allowed only one earned run while striking out 18 over seven innings pitched. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in strikeouts. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with one double.

In other batting news, Bayler Boatman and Abbey Goldsmith did most of the damage at the plate: Boatman went 2-for-4 with one home run, three RBI, and one double, while Goldsmith went 3-for-4 with one home run, two RBI, and one double. Those three hits gave Goldsmith a new career-high. Brailie Blevins was another key player, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3.

Sulphur Springs pushed their record up to 15-4 with the win, which was their seventh straight on the road. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for North Lamar, their record is now 8-5.

North Lamar suffered a grim 13-0 defeat to Sulphur Springs in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Can North Lamar avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.