The New Palestine Dragons will take on the Shelbyville Golden Bears at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with New Palestine sitting on four straight wins and Shelbyville on three.
New Palestine is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Indiana's top teams: Center Grove, who was ranked fourth at the time (New Palestine was ranked first). The Dragons won by a run and slipped past the Trojans 4-3.
Sadey Hughbanks spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned (and one unearned) runs on seven hits. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one walk in three consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Katie Hirschy, who went 2-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI. Kylee Beranek was another key player, going 1-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
New Palestine hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. The team has now struck out at least two batters in three consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Shelbyville's hitters rose to the challenge against a Pirates pitching crew that boasted an average of only 2.45 runs allowed on Monday. The Golden Bears blew past Greensburg 13-3. The result was nothing new for the Golden Bears, who have now won six contests by ten runs or more so far this season.
Shelbyville got a massive performance out of Julie Garrison, who went 3-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double. Another player making a difference was Hailey Maulden, who went 1-for-3 with three RBI and two runs.
Shelbyville's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-6. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.4 runs on average over those games. As for New Palestine, their victory bumped their record up to 12-1.
Thursday's game will be a test for both teams' pitchers. New Palestine hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .346. However, it's not like Shelbyville struggles in that department as they've averaged .382. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
New Palestine was able to grind out a solid win over Shelbyville when the teams last played back in April of 2024, winning 4-1. Will the Dragons repeat their success, or do the Golden Bears have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
