Baseball Game Preview: Panther Creek Catamounts vs. Apex Friendship Patriots

For the second straight game, Panther Creek will face off against Apex Friendship. The Catamounts will host the Patriots at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Panther Creek came up short against Apex Friendship on Wednesday, falling 9-1.

For Apex Friendship's part, Luke Hemric looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out seven over four innings pitched. Hemric has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in six consecutive appearances.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Braden Bloom, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Drew Ciaccio, who scored a run while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.

Apex Friendship always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .528. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Panther Creek only posted an OBP of .308.

Apex Friendship is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten matchups. That's provided a massive bump to their 11-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.3 runs over those games. As for Panther Creek, their loss dropped their record down to 3-13.