Baseball Game Preview: Whitmer Panthers vs. Defiance Bulldogs

The Whitmer Panthers will head out to challenge the Defiance Bulldogs at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Whitmer's hitters haven't had much luck over their past six matchups, but Tuesday's contest will give them a chance to turn things around.

Whitmer came into this matchup off a tough 12-run loss on Tuesday. This time they kept things ultra-competitive, but unfortunately the final result was the same. They fell just short of Napoleon by a score of 2-0 on Friday.

Meanwhile, Defiance earned a 9-4 win over Fairview on Monday. The Bulldogs haven't had any issues with the Apaches recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive victory against them.

Garyson Smiddy spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered three earned (and one unearned) runs on four hits and racked up nine Ks.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Cohen Stockman, who went 1-for-4 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in May of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Logan Hutcheson, who went 3-for-4 with two runs and one stolen base.

Defiance was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .423. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Fairview only posted a batting average of .179.

Defiance's win bumped their record up to 21-1. As for Whitmer, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-14.

Whitmer took their victory against Defiance when the teams last played back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 13-1 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Panthers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.