The North Laurel Jaguars will challenge the Knox Central Panthers at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
The home team had won the previous four meetings between North Laurel and Madison Southern, and Madison Southern kept the tradition alive. The Jaguars took a 5-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Eagles on Thursday. The Jaguars' defeat signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.
North Laurel saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Cam Hinkle, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one double.
Meanwhile, Knox Central fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against Pulaski County on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Maroons by a score of 12-11. The Panthers have struggled against the Maroons recently, as the game was their third consecutive lost meeting.
Austin Bargo put in work while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing three innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off one hit. That's the fewest hits he has allowed since back in April of 2024. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his six plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base. He has become a key player for Knox Central: the team is 2-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 1-9 otherwise.
In other batting news, Brady Engle and Landon Daughtery did some serious damage despite the final result: Engle got on base in four of his six plate appearances with two runs, two RBI, and one double, while Daughtery went 2-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one double. Another player making a difference was Waylon Frazier, who got on base in four of his six plate appearances with three RBI, one run, and one double.
Knox Central's loss dropped their record down to 3-10. As for North Laurel, they now have a losing record of 7-8.
North Laurel was able to grind out a solid victory over Knox Central in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, winning 6-1. Do the Jaguars have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Panthers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
