Softball Game Preview: Dunlap Eagles vs. Washington Panthers

Dunlap is 2-8 against Washington since April of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Monday. The Eagles will take on the Panthers at 4:30 p.m. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Dunlap sitting on 12 straight victories and Washington on nine.

Dunlap proved they can win big on Thursday (they won by nine) and on Saturday they proved they can win the close ones too. They never let Ottawa get on the board and left with a 1-0 win.

Sutton Centoni

Batters Struck Out

04/26/25 @ Ottawa	10
04/15/25 vs East Peoria	10
04/12/25 @ Lincoln	11
04/08/25 vs Pekin	12
04/05/25 vs Normal Community	12
+ 6 more games

Ottawa's batters probably weren't too happy with Sutton Centoni, who pitched a no hitter and racked up ten Ks (she gave up zero walks). Centoni has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than nine strikeouts in 11 consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Dunlap's victory was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Ella Cunningham, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one RBI. That stolen base was Cunningham's first of the season.

Canton typically has all the answers at home, but on Thursday Washington proved too difficult a challenge. They were the clear victors by a 10-3 margin over the Little Giants. The Panthers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven contests by seven runs or more this season.

Dunlap's win was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-3. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Washington, their win bumped their record up to 14-1.

Dunlap took their victory against Washington when the teams last played back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 9-2 score. Will the Eagles repeat their success, or do the Panthers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.