The Little Miami Panthers will square off against the Central Crossing Comets at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Little Miami will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each contest than the last.
Little Miami barely beat Loveland the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Panthers put the hurt on the Tigers with a sharp 12-3 win on Wednesday. The victory continues a trend for the Panthers in their matchups with the Tigers: they've now won eight in a row.
Faith Thompson made a splash no matter where she played. On the mound, she tossed seven innings while giving up three earned runs off nine hits. Thompson was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing three bases while getting on base in two of her four plate appearances. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in RBI (two).
In other batting news, Ashleigh Meece and Ellie Rebman did most of the damage at the plate: Meece scored three runs while getting on base in all five of her plate appearances, while Rebman scored two runs while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances. What's more, Rebman posted two RBI, the most she's had since back in May of 2024. Hailey Van Bibber was another key player, scoring two runs while getting on base in two of her three plate appearances.
For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Central Crossing and Grove City meet (three straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Wednesday. The Comets' pitcher stepped up to hand the Greyhounds a 4-0 shutout.
The result came thanks to Hayliee Roberts's shutout, as she gave up just two hits and racked up seven Ks. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in seven consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Central Crossing's win was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Chesney Mullins, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Little Miami's victory bumped their record up to 8-4. As for Central Crossing, their win bumped their record up to 6-3.
Little Miami skirted past Central Crossing 4-3 in their previous meeting back in April of 2015. Do the Panthers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Comets turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
