Pickerington North hasn't had much luck against Pickerington Central recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Panthers will welcome the Tigers at 5:00 p.m. The two teams are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.
Pickerington Central will be up against a hot Pickerington North squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. The Panthers put the hurt on Buckeye Valley with a sharp 11-1 win on Thursday. That's two games straight that the Panthers have won by exactly ten runs.
Addison Mickey made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, tossing two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two runs and one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Makenna Hartley, who fired off two home runs, five RBI, and three runs while going 4-for-4. That's the most home runs she has posted since back in April. Another player making a difference was Kaylani Meadows, who went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases and two runs.
Pickerington North kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 15 hits. They are 5-2 when they post 11 or more hits.
Meanwhile, Pickerington Central got the win against Reynoldsburg on Thursday by a conclusive 19-2. The result was nothing new for the Tigers, who have now won 12 matches by six runs or more so far this season.
Samara Williams looked comfortable as she struck out six batters over four innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits.
On the hitting side, Pickerington Central got a massive performance out of Sophia Kounouzvelis, who got on base in three of her four plate appearances with three runs, two RBI, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Camree Cunningham, who got on base in all four of her plate appearances with three runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
Pickerington Central's victory bumped their record up to 12-9. As for Pickerington North, their win bumped their record up to 9-13.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Pickerington North hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Pickerington Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.7 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Pickerington North beat Pickerington Central 7-2 in their previous matchup back in May of 2024. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Tigers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
