Baseball Game Preview: Paulding Panthers vs. North Central Eagles

The Paulding Panthers will venture away from home to take on the North Central Eagles at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. North Central took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Paulding, who comes in off a win.

Paulding barely beat Antwerp the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Panthers put the hurt on the Archers with a sharp 16-9 win on Thursday. The victory was some much needed relief for the Panthers as it spelled an end to their three-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, after a string of six wins, North Central's good fortune finally ran out on Thursday. They took a 9-5 hit to the loss column at the hands of Hilltop.

North Central saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jackson Poynter, who went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases and two RBI. Logan Clark was another, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and one double.

Paulding's win bumped their record up to 5-6. As for North Central, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-5.

Paulding couldn't quite finish off North Central in their previous meeting back in April of 2023 and fell 5-3. Can the Panthers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.