Petal hasn't had much luck against Northwest Rankin recently, but that could start to change on Friday. A feisty cat fight will be fought as Petal Panthers take on Northwest Rankin Cougars at 7:00 p.m.
Petal will bounce into Friday's contest after beating Northwest Rankin, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. Petal came out on top against Northwest Rankin by a score of 5-2 on Tuesday. The game was the first time the Panthers have beaten the Cougars on their field since March 1, 2022.
Jayden Madison
| 03/18/25 @ Northwest Rankin | 2 |
| 03/10/25 vs Lafayette | 2 |
| 03/06/25 @ Harrison Central | 0 |
Jayden Madison spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered two runs (both of which were unearned) on two hits and racked up ten Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Fischer Howell was excellent, scoring two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Petal pushed their record up to 9-4 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing nine hits in those games compared to only 4.22 in the others. As for Northwest Rankin, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 6-9-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Petal has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Northwest Rankin struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
