The Martinsville Artesians will square off against the Bloomington South Panthers at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Martinsville comes in still looking for their first win of the season.
Martinsville fell victim to Decatur Central and their airtight pitching crew on Thursday. They came up short against the Hawks, falling 10-0. Artesians fans who chose to attend the game sure picked the wrong one: it was the first time the team's lost against the Hawks since on Thursday.
Meanwhile, it was a classic North v. South duel when Bloomington South faced off against Bloomington North on Thursday. The Panthers' pitchers stepped up to hand the Cougars a 3-0 shutout. The Panthers haven't had any issues with the Cougars recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive win against them.
The team relied heavily on Reid Walker, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI.
Martinsville's loss dropped their record down to 0-16. As for Bloomington South, their victory bumped their record up to 13-6.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Martinsville has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Bloomington South struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Martinsville beat Bloomington South 8-4 when the teams last played back in May of 2023. Will the Artesians repeat their success, or do the Panthers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
