The Newberry Panthers will head out on the road to face off against the Hamilton County Trojans at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Newberry has three straight victories, Hamilton County has 13 straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
On Thursday, Newberry got themselves on the board against Hawthorne, but Hawthorne never followed suit. They walked away with a 5-0 win over the Hornets.
Madison Rodgers spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just zero earned runs on three hits and racked up 12 Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than six innings in four consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Newberry saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Olivia Tharp, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, it was a hard-fought match, but Hamilton County had to settle for an 8-7 defeat against Lafayette on Tuesday.
Bailey Driggers and Anna Morgan stepped up to the plate in a big way. Driggers went 3-for-4 with a home run and two runs, while Morgan scored a run and stole a base while going 3-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Addison Morgan, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
Newberry has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 7-2 record this season. As for Hamilton County, their loss dropped their record down to 0-10.
Hamilton County's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Friday. Newberry has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.8 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Hamilton County, though, as they've been averaging only 3.6 per game. Will Newberry keep running through batters, or will Hamilton County buck the trend?
Newberry might still be hurting after the 20-9 defeat they got from Hamilton County when the teams last played back in April of 2023. Can Newberry avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
