Softball Game Preview: Newberry Panthers vs. P.K. Yonge Blue Wave

The Newberry Panthers will venture away from home to square off against the P.K. Yonge Blue Wave at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Newberry is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt wants to keep things rolling.

Newberry's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. Everything went their way against Interlachen as Newberry made off with a 15-0 victory. The contest marked the Panthers' most dominant win of the season so far.

Madison Rodgers

Runs Batted In (Career)

03/06/25 vs Interlachen	3
03/04/25 @ Bradford	2
02/21/25 vs Buchholz	2
04/26/24 vs Eastside	2
04/18/24 vs Dixie County	2

Madison Rodgers made a splash while hitting and pitching. She didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out six over four innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 2-for-4. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in RBI (three).

In other batting news, Gracie Mattson was a standout: she went a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs and one triple. Malana Kennard also deserves some recognition as she hit her first double of the season.

Newberry always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .545. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Interlachen only posted an OBP of .200.

Meanwhile, P.K. Yonge came up short against Bradford on Thursday and fell 14-9.

Emma Mansfield and Brianna Garrison stepped up to the plate in a big way. Mansfield scored a run while going 1-for-2, while Garrison went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Harper Jose, who scored a run while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.

Newberry pushed their record up to 7-0 with the victory, which was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.7 runs over those games. As for P.K. Yonge, they have traveled a rocky road recently, having lost three of their last four games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 3-5 record this season.

Newberry came out on top in a nail-biter against P.K. Yonge when the teams last played back in April of 2024, sneaking past 6-5. Will Newberry repeat their success, or does P.K. Yonge have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.