The Billings Senior Broncs will look to defend their home field on Thursday against the Belgrade Panthers at 3:00 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Billings Senior comes in on three and Belgrade on nine.
Billings Senior is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Montana's top teams: Bozeman, who was ranked 22nd in their home state at the time (Billings Senior was ranked 12th). Billings Senior beat Bozeman on Saturday by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 18-5. The result was nothing new for Billings Senior, who have now won three matchups by ten runs or more so far this season.
Madi Ban was incredible, going 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Octavia Meyer, who scored two runs while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Belgrade had just enough and edged Gallatin out 10-8 on Saturday.
Olivia Mills was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out seven batters over seven innings while giving up six earned (and two unearned) runs off eight hits. Mills has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in eight consecutive pitching appearances. Mills was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with four RBI.
In other batting news, Brooklyn Ragland and Sitara Osler did most of the damage at the plate: Ragland scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-4, while Osler scored a run while going 2-for-4. Ragland has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times she's played.
The victory got Billings Senior back to even at 3-3-1. As for Belgrade, their win was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-1.
Thursday's game might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Billings Senior has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .476. However, it's not like Belgrade struggles in that department as they've averaged .438. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Everything went Billings Senior's way against Belgrade in their previous meeting back in May of 2023 as Billings Senior made off with a 14-3 victory. Will Billings Senior repeat their success, or does Belgrade have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
