The Liberty Panthers will take on the Kirbyville Wildcats at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
The scorekeeper got an easy start on Friday as neither Liberty nor Lumberton made it on the board until the fifth inning. The Panthers came out on top in a nail-biter against the Raiders, sneaking past 4-3. Winning may never get old, but the Panthers sure are getting used to it with their third in a row.
Casper Eckols
| 04/25/25 @ Lumberton | 3 |
| 03/08/25 vs Elgin | 4 |
Casper Eckols made a big impact no matter where he played. He tossed five innings while giving up just two earned runs off two hits. What's more, he posted three strikeouts, the most he's had since back in March. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-5 with two stolen bases and one run.
Eckols wasn't the only one making solid contact as five players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Grahm Pavliska, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Liberty hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least five batters in five consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, it may have taken ten innings to finish the job, but Kirbyville ultimately got the result they hoped for on Tuesday. They won by a run and slipped past Kountze 6-5. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Wildcats.
Like Liberty, Kirbyville also got a great game from a two-way player: David Fussell. On the mound, he tossed 5.1 innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off six hits. Fussell has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances. He was even better at the plate, getting on base in five of his six plate appearances with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one run.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Cooper Murphy, who went 2-for-6 with three stolen bases and two runs. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last four games he's played.
Kirbyville pushed their record up to 20-6 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.7 runs over those games. As for Liberty, their victory bumped their record up to 17-10-1.
