The Johnston Panthers are taking a road trip to take on the North Providence Cougars at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Johnston lost a heartbreaker the last time they played Toll Gate, but it's fair to say they got their revenge given the result of Monday's contest. The Panthers put the hurt on the Titans with a sharp 22-1 victory on Monday. The Panthers' hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Ethan Bracey
| 05/11/26 @ Toll Gate | 3 |
| 04/14/26 @ St. Raphael Academy | 2 |
| 05/19/25 @ Central | 2 |
| 05/02/26 @ Middletown | 1 |
| 04/20/26 vs Chariho | 1 |
Ethan Bracey made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he pitched three innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. He has become a key player for Johnston: the team is 4-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 3-6 otherwise. Bracey was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his six plate appearances with three runs. Those three runs gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Corey Ogden, who went 3-for-5 with four runs, four RBI, and one double. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high. Jayvin Adamo also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Johnston always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .531. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, North Providence waltzed into their game on Tuesday with three straight wins... but they left with four. Everything went their way against the Crusaders as they made off with an 8-1 win. The Cougars might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six matchups by seven runs or more this season.
Kris Pacific spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on six hits and racked up ten Ks. Those ten strikeouts set a new season-high mark for him.
On the hitting side, JT Raftery was excellent, going 2-for-4 with three runs and one stolen base. Another player making a difference was Anthony Roman, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
North Providence's record now sits at 9-5-1. As for Johnston, the victory got them back to even at 7-7.
Johnston suffered a grim 10-0 defeat to North Providence in their previous matchup back in April. Can the Panthers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
