Highland has gone 9-1 against Griffith recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Trojans will welcome the Panthers at 4:30 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Highland has three straight wins, Griffith has six straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Highland had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 14-run drubbing they dealt East Chicago Central on Wednesday. The Trojans' pitchers stepped up to hand the Cardinals a 14-0 shutout.
Joe Stephan looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four).
Nate Phillips
| 05/07/25 @ East Chicago Central | 3 |
| 05/05/25 vs Kankakee Valley | 2 |
| 04/14/25 vs Munster | 2 |
| 04/18/25 vs Whiting | 1 |
| 04/11/25 @ Lowell | 1 |
On the hitting side, Highland let Nate Phillips and Logan Finch run wild. Phillips got on base in all four of his plate appearances with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run, while Finch went 3-for-4 with three runs, two doubles, and one stolen base. Those three RBI gave Phillips a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Danijel Zekavica, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
Highland was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .375. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in three consecutive matches.
Hammond Bishop Noll hit Griffith with a four-run fourth inning on Tuesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Panthers fell just short of the Warriors by a score of 9-7. Panthers fans who chose to attend the game sure picked the wrong one: it was the first time the team's lost against the Warriors since on Tuesday.
Jackson Davenport was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double. He has become a key player for Griffith: the team is 4-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 3-7 otherwise. Anthony Feliciano was another key player, earning one RBI, one run, and two stolen bases.
Griffith now has a losing record of 7-8. As for Highland, their victory bumped their record up to 7-10.
Highland took their win against Griffith in their previous meeting back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 13-0 score. Do the Trojans have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Panthers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
