The Orange Panthers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Williams Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a five-game winning streak alive.
Last Friday, Orange was able to grind out a solid win over Cedar Ridge, taking the game 6-1.
Josiah Gibbs tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 11 over five innings pitched.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Ryan Honeycutt, who went 3-for-4 with a home run, two RBI, and a double. The team also got some help courtesy of Cross Clayton, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Williams put the finishing touches on their sixth blowout victory of the season on Thursday. They blew past Southwestern Randolph 15-2.
Tate Jones made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out six batters over five innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits (and not a single walk). Jones has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in six consecutive pitching appearances. Jones was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
In other batting news, Williams got a big performance out of William Allen, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Vince Coker, who scored two runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
Orange pushed their record up to 9-3 with that victory, which was their sixth straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.2 runs per game. As for Williams, they have been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 10-3 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Orange has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 10.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Williams struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Orange beat Williams 9-4 in their previous meeting back in May of 2023. Will Orange repeat their success, or does Williams have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
