The Parma Panthers will square off against the New Plymouth Pilgrims at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Parma sitting on nine straight wins and New Plymouth on six.
Parma will bounce into Monday's game after beating Homedale, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. The Panthers walked away with a 5-1 victory over the Trojans on Friday. That's two games straight that the Panthers have won by exactly four runs.
Parma's win was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Wesli Crockett, who went 3-for-4 with two runs and one double. Maya Jensen was another, going 1-for-3 with one triple, one run, and one RBI.
The home team had won the previous six meetings between New Plymouth and McCall-Donnelly, and New Plymouth kept the tradition alive. The Pilgrims blew past the Vandals 14-2 on Saturday. The Pilgrims might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won nine contests by six runs or more this season.
Makiah Weideman made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched. Weideman was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with three runs, one stolen base, and one double. She has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times she's played.
In other batting news, Makayla Howard was a standout: she got on base in all four of her plate appearances with three RBI and one run. Those three RBI gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Elsea Shaw, who went 2-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
New Plymouth always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .575. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as McCall-Donnelly only posted an OBP of .158.
Parma's victory was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-2. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for New Plymouth, their victory bumped their record up to 15-4.
Monday's matchup will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Parma hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .380. However, it's not like New Plymouth struggles in that department as they've averaged .362. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Everything went Parma's way against New Plymouth when the teams last played two weeks ago, as Parma made off with a 16-0 win. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Pilgrims have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
