The Pioneer Panthers will face off against the Benton Central Bison at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Pioneer is coming into the contest hot, having won their last five games.
On Tuesday, Pioneer beat Caston 5-2.
Lois Layer spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered two runs (both of which were unearned) on one hit and racked up eight Ks.
At the plate, Pioneer's win was truly a team effort as three different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Hollie Zellers, who went 2-for-4 with one triple and one run.
Meanwhile, Benton Central can bid farewell to their four-game losing streak thanks to their game on Monday. Everything went their way against Frontier as they made off with a 12-2 victory. Considering the Bison's hitters had been struggling lately, the high-scoring outing was a much-needed turnaround.
Benton Central let Kennedy Dowell and Madison Minniear run wild. Dowell went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI, while Minniear went 2-for-3 with four RBI and two runs. Those two runs gave Dowell a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Izzy Adams, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
Pioneer's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 19-10. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Benton Central, their win bumped their record up to 7-19.
Benton Central's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Pioneer has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .445. It's a different story for Benton Central, though, as they've only averaged .347. Will they be able to contain Pioneer's hitters?
Everything went Pioneer's way against Benton Central in their previous meeting two weeks ago, as Pioneer made off with a 15-2 victory. Do the Panthers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Bison turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
