Baseball Preview: Petal Panthers vs. Sumrall Bobcats
The Petal Panthers will head out on the road to challenge the Sumrall Bobcats at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Petal scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Thursday. Everything went their way against Meridian as Petal made off with a 20-3 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for Petal.
Jayden Madison looked comfortable as he struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits (and not a single walk). He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in four consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Petal got a massive performance out of Carson Fairley, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Easton Giger, who scored three runs while getting on base in all five of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Sumrall faced Purvis in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. Sumrall put the hurt on Purvis with a sharp 10-3 win. Sumrall might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won 11 contests by seven runs or more this season.
Jack Miller spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered three earned runs on four hits.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Leo Odom, who scored a run while going 2-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Malek McNair, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.
Petal is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a massive bump to their 9-8 record this season. As for Sumrall, their victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Petal has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Sumrall struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Petal was able to grind out a solid win over Sumrall when the teams last played back in March of 2023, winning 7-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for Petal since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
