Softball Game Preview: Tri-County North Panthers vs. Preble Shawnee Arrows

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Previous 5 Games

05/06/24 - Away	12-3 W
04/11/23 - Home	3-1 W
04/12/22 - Away	6-1 W
05/06/21 - Home	6-2 W
04/20/18 - Away	11-5 W

Tri-County North has gone a perfect 5-0 against Preble Shawnee recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Panthers will be playing at home against the Arrows at 5:00 p.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Tri-County North is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Bradford an 11-0 shutout on Tuesday. The result was nothing new for the Panthers, who have now won four matches by six runs or more so far this season.

Meanwhile, Preble Shawnee was able to grind out a solid victory over National Trail on Tuesday, taking the game 8-3.

Mattie Colburn made a splash no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out ten batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off seven hits. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with one triple, one run, and one RBI. That triple marked the first that she hit this season.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Ava Niehoff, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3. Those runs marked the first that she scored this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Layla Roberts, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.

Preble Shawnee always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .533. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in three consecutive games.

Tri-County North is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 6-6 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.6 runs on average over those games. Preble Shawnee's first victory this season bumped their record up to 1-3.

Everything went Tri-County North's way against Preble Shawnee in their previous matchup back in May of 2024, as Tri-County North made off with a 12-3 win. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Arrows have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.