Baseball Game Preview: Stone Memorial Panthers vs. Oakdale Eagles

vs

Previous 6 Games

04/13/24 - Away	5-9 L
03/12/24 - Away	5-3 W
03/11/24 - Home	5-7 L
04/28/23 - Home	7-3 W
04/13/23 - Away	6-0 W
03/02/17 - Home	1-3 L

Stone Memorial and Oakdale are an even 3-3 against one another since March of 2017, but likely not for long. The Panthers will challenge the Eagles at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Stone Memorial is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last four games.

On Friday, Stone Memorial beat York Institute 7-2. That's two games straight that the Panthers have won by exactly five runs.

Meanwhile, Oakdale got themselves on the board against Sunbright on Wednesday, but Sunbright never followed suit. They blew past the Tigers 10-0. The win continues a trend for the Eagles in their matchups with the Tigers: they've now won seven in a row.

Liam Smith made a splash while hitting and pitching. He kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out nine over five innings pitched. Those nine strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-2 with two runs and one RBI.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Maddox Tilson, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with three stolen bases and two runs. He is becoming a predictor of Oakdale's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 4-1 (and 4-5 when he doesn't). Logan Currier was another key player, getting on base in two of his three plate appearances with two runs.

Oakdale always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .536. That was just more of the same: they've now posted an OBP of .536 or higher in three consecutive games.

Stone Memorial's record now sits at 5-12. As for Oakdale, their record is now 8-6.

Stone Memorial couldn't quite get it done against Oakdale in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 as they fell 9-5. Can the Panthers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.