The Goshen RedHawks will take on the NorthWood Panthers at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Friday, Goshen needed a bit of extra time to put away Wawasee. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past the Warriors 3-2. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the RedHawks have posted since May 16, 2024.
Bray Hoag tossed a big game, striking out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Those seven strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
On the hitting side, Braxton Cline was excellent, going 2-for-3 with one triple and one run. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaxon Miller, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one double.
Meanwhile, NorthWood got themselves on the board against Bremen on Saturday, but Bremen never followed suit. They came out on top against the Lions by a score of 5-0. The Panthers haven't had any issues with the Lions recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.
NorthWood also got a great performance from Brady Blackford as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out six over six innings pitched. Blackford has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Nate Dutkowski, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run. Connor Reed was another key player, going 2-for-3 with two runs and one double.
NorthWood pushed their record up to 10-6 with the win, which was their third straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Goshen, their win ended a four-game drought at home and bumped them up to 5-6.
Goshen skirted past NorthWood 3-2 in their previous matchup back in May of 2024. Do the RedHawks have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Panthers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
