Softball Game Preview: Litchfield Purple Panthers vs. Vandalia Vandals

vs

Previous Games

05/13/24 - Home	12-0 W
05/03/24 - Away	7-4 W
05/02/24 - Home	18-2 W
05/05/23 - Home	5-11 L
05/04/23 - Away	2-6 L
+ 5 more games

Litchfield and Vandalia are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2017, but likely not for long. The Purple Panthers will host the Vandals at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Neither of those teams managed to put together many runs in their previous contests, so the offenses might be a little more motivated than usual.

On Thursday, Litchfield wound up with the same score they had in their last game (6-1), but sadly the team found themselves on the wrong side of the score this time. They haven't had much luck with the Panthers recently, as the team has come up short the last eight times they've met.

Meanwhile, Vandalia fought the good fight in their extra-innings match against Altamont on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Indians by a score of 2-1. The Vandals just can't catch a break and have now endured three defeats in a row.

Madison Lupton spent all eight innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on six hits.

On the hitting side, Vandalia saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Arian Dunaway, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases.

Litchfield's loss dropped their record down to 7-9. As for Vandalia, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-11.

Everything went Litchfield's way against Vandalia in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, as Litchfield made off with a 12-0 win. Will the Purple Panthers repeat their success, or do the Vandals have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.