The Sale Creek Panthers will head out to square off against the Marion County Warriors at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Sale Creek has nine straight victories, Marion County has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Sale Creek's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They put the hurt on East Ridge with a sharp 10-0 win. Considering the Panthers have won ten matchups by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Gabriel Abbott looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Gabriel Hodges was incredible, going a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, two runs, and one double. That's the most hits he has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Maverick McCary, who went 2-for-4 with two runs, two doubles, and two RBI.
Meanwhile, Marion County came up short against Hixson on Friday and fell 8-5.
Marion County saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Eli Blevins, who went 2-for-4 with two runs. Blevins has become a key player for the Warriors: the team is 4-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 11-12 otherwise.
Sale Creek pushed their record up to 16-4 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Marion County, their defeat dropped their record down to 15-13.
Marion County's pitching crew better be locked in on Monday. Sale Creek hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.4 home runs per game. It's a different story for Marion County, though, as they've been averaging only 0 home runs. Will they be able to keep Sale Creek in the park?
Sale Creek came out on top in a nail-biter against Marion County when the teams last played back in May of 2022, sneaking past 4-2. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Warriors have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
