After flying high against Meridian last Thursday, Petal came back down to earth. The Petal Panthers fell victim to a tough 10-4 defeat at the hands of the Sumrall Bobcats on Saturday. Petal was given a dose of their own medicine in this game as Sumrall apparently hadn't forgotten their loss the last time these teams played back in March of 2023.
Petal got a good showing from Cooper Smith, who tossed 3.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits (he also only allowed one walk). Smith has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in five consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Fisher Howell made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored a run while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Ethan Byrd, who went 3-for-3 with an RBI.
Even though they lost, Petal didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with ten strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Sumrall only tossed five.
On Sumrall's side, they got a big performance out of Kellan Garcia, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Braelyn Harrison, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-1.
Petal's defeat dropped their record down to 9-9. As for Sumrall, they are on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 21-4 record this season.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Petal is on the road again on Tuesday to play Pearl at 7:00 p.m. Pearl is coming into the contest with seven straight losses at home, meaning Petal will have to defend against a team hungry for a win. As for Sumrall, they will head out on the road to face off against North Forrest at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. North Forrest will be hoping to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each matchup than the last.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
