Softball Preview: Gardner-South Wilmington Panthers vs. Donovan Wildcats
Gardner-South Wilmington is 9-1 against Donovan since May of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Gardner-South Wilmington Panthers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Donovan Wildcats at 4:30 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Gardner-South Wilmington has five straight wins, Donovan has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
On Wednesday, Gardner-South Wilmington was able to grind out a solid victory over Iroquois West, taking the game 4-1.
Maddie Simms spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on two hits and racked up 16 Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in five consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Nina Siano, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was Aubree Stein, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Donovan fought the good fight in their extra-innings match against Grace Christian Academy on Wednesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Crusaders by a score of 3-2.
Gardner-South Wilmington has been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-11 record this season. As for Donovan, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-17.
Gardner-South Wilmington took their win against Donovan in their previous meeting on Monday by a conclusive 23-1. Will Gardner-South Wilmington repeat their success, or does Donovan have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
