Baseball Game Preview: Orange Panthers vs. Grimsley Whirlies

Panthers

Runs

03/03/25 @ Northern Durham	6
02/28/25 vs Seaforth	10
02/26/25 vs Chapel Hill	9
02/25/25 vs West Johnston	1

The Orange Panthers are taking a road trip to face off against the Grimsley Whirlies at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Orange is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.5 runs per game this season.

Grimsley will be up against a hot Orange team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. Orange put the hurt on Northern Durham with a sharp 6-0 victory on Monday.

Ryan Sawyer looked comfortable as he struck out eight batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. That's the fewest hits he has allowed since back in April of 2024.

On the hitting side, Orange saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Garrett Sawyer, who scored two runs and stole Two bases. while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Those two stolen bases gave Sawyer a new career-high. Henry Hoffman also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.

Meanwhile, Grimsley hadn't done well against Southeast Guilford recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Grimsley came out on top in a nail-biter against Southeast Guilford, sneaking past 3-1. The win continues a trend for the Whirlies in their matchups with the Falcons: they've now won three in a row.

Orange's record now sits at 3-1. As for Grimsley, the victory got them back to even at 2-2.

Orange's speedy runners might be the difference in Thursday's matchup. Orange has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.5 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Grimsley, though, as they've been averaging only 1.2 stolen bases. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Orange continue to outrun the ball?

Everything went Orange's way against Grimsley when the teams last played back in March of 2024, as Orange made off with a 12-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Orange since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.