Hamilton Southeastern is 2-7 against New Palestine since April of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Royals will host the Dragons at 5:30 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Hamilton Southeastern 2.2, New Palestine 0.6) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Hamilton Southeastern fell victim to Zionsville and their airtight pitching crew on Tuesday. They fell just short of the Eagles by a score of 1-0. The game marked the first time this season in which the Royals were not able to get on the board.
Grace Swedarsky spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered a run (which was unearned) on four hits and racked up eight Ks. She has been consistent : she hasn't given up more than two walks any time she's pitched this season.
At the plate, Hamilton Southeastern saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Addison Richmond, who went 2-for-3 with one double. Tori Bricker also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen base of the season.
Meanwhile, New Palestine strolled into their game on Wednesday with a perfect record and they left with the same. They never let Franklin Central get on the board and left with a 10-0 victory. Ten seems to be a good number for the Dragons as the team scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Sadey Hughbanks looked comfortable as she tossed 3.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off four hits.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Payton Dye, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Jersi Gross, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3.
New Palestine was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .429. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .353 or higher every time they've taken the field this season.
Hamilton Southeastern's defeat dropped their record down to 6-3. As for New Palestine, they pushed their record up to 5-0 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Hamilton Southeastern hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.4 home runs per game. However, it's not like New Palestine struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.6 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Hamilton Southeastern came out on top in a nail-biter against New Palestine in their previous matchup back in June of 2024, sneaking past 2-1. Will the Royals repeat their success, or do the Dragons have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
