The Knightstown Panthers will square off against the North Decatur Chargers at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Knightstown is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They put the hurt on Union County with a sharp 26-6 win on Saturday. The Panthers have beaten the Patriots the last three times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Patriots has come to flipping the script.
Henry Schmidt looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in five consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Travis Louks was incredible, going 4-for-5 with five RBI, two runs, and one double. That's the most runs he has posted over his last 11 matchups. Another player making a difference was Kelton Weaver, who went 2-for-4 with three runs, three RBI, and one stolen base.
Meanwhile, North Decatur got the win against Switzerland County on Saturday by a conclusive 18-8. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Chargers.
The team relied heavily on Xander Jones, who got on base in five of his six plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Grayson Downey, who went 1-for-5 with three RBI, two runs, and one stolen base.
North Decatur always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .583. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Switzerland County only posted an OBP of .400.
North Decatur pushed their record up to 8-6 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 17.3 runs over those games. As for Knightstown, their victory bumped their record up to 13-3.
Everything went Knightstown's way against North Decatur in their previous meeting back in May of 2023, as Knightstown made off with a 10-0 win. Do the Panthers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Chargers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
