The Plymouth Panthers will be playing at home against the Howards Grove Tigers at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The timing is sure in Plymouth's favor as the squad sits on four straight wins at home while Howards Grove has been banged up by three consecutive losses on the road.
Plymouth is hoping to deliver their fans another blowout on Friday, just like they did against Winneconne (and have done all season long). Plymouth's pitcher stepped up to hand Winneconne an 18-0 shutout on Thursday. While fans of Plymouth might be used to big wins, the 18-run margin marked the team's biggest one yet.
John Steinhardt made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out nine over five innings pitched. Steinhardt has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in three consecutive pitching appearances. Steinhardt was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with a triple, two RBI, and a run.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Jackson Neilitz, who went 3-for-3 with two triples, three runs, and four RBI. Another player making a difference was Ian Schweitzer, who went 2-for-3 with four RBI.
Meanwhile, Thursday just wasn't the day for Howards Grove's offense. They took a 5-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of Random Lake on Thursday.
Howards Grove saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Logan Miller, who went 1-for-3 with a double.
Plymouth has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a massive bump to their 10-6 record this season. As for Howards Grove, their loss dropped their record down to 7-12-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Plymouth has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Howards Grove struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.4. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Plymouth skirted past Howards Grove 10-8 in their previous meeting back in May of 2023. Does Plymouth have another victory up their sleeve, or will Howards Grove turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
