The Bloom-Carroll Bulldogs will face off against the Pickerington North Panthers at 5:15 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Bloom-Carroll is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They never let South get on the board and left with a 26-0 win on Wednesday. Considering Bloom-Carroll has won 16 matchups by more than six runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
The team relied heavily on Madelyn Gates, who got on base in all five of her plate appearances with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. What's more, she posted two doubles, the most she's had since back in April. Another player making a difference was Claire Whitcraft, who got on base in all five of her plate appearances with four RBI and one double.
Bloom-Carroll kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits every time they've taken the field this season.
Pickerington North never got on the board in their matchup on Wednesday, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Bishop Hartley on Thursday. They blew past the Hawks 16-6. The high-scoring performance was a welcome turnaround for the Panthers' hitters, who had struggled in the games prior.
Julia Deely was a standout: she got on base in four of her five plate appearances with three RBI, two runs, and one stolen base. The team also got some help courtesy of Sammy Morris, who went 2-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one stolen base.
Pickerington North's victory bumped their record up to 11-15. As for Bloom-Carroll, their win bumped their record up to 21-3.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Bloom-Carroll hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1 home runs per game. However, it's not like Pickerington North struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Bloom-Carroll couldn't quite get it done against Pickerington North in their previous matchup back in March of 2019 as they fell 7-4. Will the Bulldogs have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more softball content.
