Belgrade has gone a perfect 10-0 against Skyview recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Panthers will square off against the Falcons at 3:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Belgrade has four straight wins, Skyview has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Belgrade is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Montana's top teams: Gallatin, who was ranked 14th at the time (Belgrade was ranked ninth). The Panthers came out on top against the Raptors by a score of 10-7 on Saturday. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Panthers considering their one-run performance the match before.
Olivia Mills spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered seven earned runs on seven hits and racked up 11 Ks. She has been consistent: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in six consecutive appearances.
Bailee White
| 05/03/25 vs Gallatin | 4 |
| 03/22/25 @ Columbia Falls | 2 |
| 03/22/25 @ Columbia Falls | 2 |
| 04/22/25 @ Capital | 1 |
| 04/10/25 @ Russell | 1 |
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Bailee White, who went 3-for-4 with one home run, four RBI, and one stolen base. Those four RBI gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Ava Lund, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI and one double.
Meanwhile, Skyview came up short against Billings Central Catholic on Tuesday and fell 17-12.
Ruby Sheridan stepped up to lead a balanced group of hitters: she went a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run. The team also got some help courtesy of Rebekah Nickish, who went 2-for-3 with four RBI, one stolen base, and one run.
Belgrade pushed their record up to 11-4-1 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.7 runs on average over those games. As for Skyview, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-9.
Skyview's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Thursday. Belgrade has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.6 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Skyview, though, as they've been averaging only 3.3 strikeouts. Will Belgrade keep running through batters, or will the Falcons buck the trend?
Belgrade came out on top in a nail-biter against Skyview in their previous meeting two weeks ago, sneaking past 3-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Panthers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
