The Palatka Panthers will venture away from home to take on the Hawthorne Hornets at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Palatka will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak.
Palatka will bounce into Monday's contest after beating Keystone Heights, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. Palatka narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past Keystone Heights 5-3. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Panthers have posted against the Indians since March 25, 2022.
Brayden Johns
| 02/13/25 @ St. Augustine | 6 |
| 03/07/25 @ Keystone Heights | 2 |
| 02/28/25 @ Middleburg | 2 |
| 03/28/25 vs Keystone Heights | 1 |
| 02/21/25 @ Matanzas | 1 |
Brayden Johns looked comfortable as he pitched 1.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He also tossed a walk, which is notable because Palatka is undefeated when he allows at most one walk, but 6-8 otherwise.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Mason Malloy, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one triple, two RBI, and one run.
Palatka hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now struck out at most five strikeouts in seven consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Hawthorne). They were the clear victors by a 21-9 margin over Peniel Baptist Academy on Friday. Considering the Hornets have won six games by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Connor Flinchum was a standout: he went 3-for-5 with three runs, three RBI, and one triple. That's the most hits he has posted since back in April of 2024. Tison Thomas was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 3-for-4.
Hawthorne has been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 9-7 record this season. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing 10.78 hits in those games compared to only 3.43 in the others. Palatka pushed their record up to 10-8 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
