Preview: Mulberry Panthers vs. Haines City Hornets
The Mulberry Panthers will look to defend their home field on Tuesday against the Haines City Hornets at 7:00 p.m. Neither Mulberry nor Haines City posted many runs in their last games, so it might be the pitching crews that decide this one.
Mulberry fought the good fight in their extra-innings match against Upper Arlington on Monday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Golden Bears by a score of 2-1. Mulberry has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Noah Campbell was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 12 over seven innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Mulberry saw one different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Nic Partridge, who went 1-for-3 with a home run. Cooper Wright was another key contributor, getting on base in two of his four plate appearances with three stolen bases.
Even though they lost, Mulberry didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 12 strikeouts. That's the most strikeouts they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, sadly, Haines City is still looking for their first win of the season after six contests. They fell victim to a tough 22-0 defeat at the hands of Mulberry on March 8th.
Mulberry's loss dropped their record down to 8-6. As for Haines City, they have fallen quite a ways from their 16-8 record last season and are now at 0-6.
Haines City's pitching crew has a tough task ahead of them: Mulberry has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .441. It's a different story for Haines City, though, as they've only averaged .342. Will they be able to contain Mulberry's hitters?
Mulberry took their win against Haines City in their previous matchup on March 8th by a conclusive 22-0. Does Mulberry have another victory up their sleeve, or will Haines City turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
