The Howards Grove Tigers will head out on the road to take on the Plymouth Panthers at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Howards Grove is no doubt hoping to put an end to a three-game streak of away losses.
Howards Grove's hitters might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against Random Lake on Thursday. They fell 5-0 to the Rams.
Howards Grove saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Logan Miller, who went 1-for-3 with a double.
Meanwhile, Plymouth waltzed into their matchup on Thursday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They were the clear victor by an 18-0 margin over the Wolves. Plymouth might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won five contests by eight runs or more this season.
John Steinhardt made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out nine over five innings pitched. Steinhardt has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in three consecutive pitching appearances. Steinhardt was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with a triple, two RBI, and a run.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Jackson Neilitz, who went 3-for-3 with two triples, three runs, and four RBI. Another player making a difference was Brett Shutter, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Howards Grove's loss dropped their record down to 7-12-1. As for Plymouth, they are on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a massive bump to their 10-6 record this season.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Howards Grove has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.9 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Plymouth struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.6. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Howards Grove couldn't quite finish off Plymouth when the teams last played back in May of 2023 and fell 10-8. Thankfully for Howards Grove, Dylon Sass (who went 3-for-5 with four RBI, two doubles, and a run) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
