Lakewood is 1-9 against Hobbton since May of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Lakewood Leopards will head out on the road to square off against the Hobbton Wildcats at 6:00 p.m. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.
After soaring to 30 runs the game before, Lakewood were a bit more limited in their match on Thursday. They fell victim to a rough 13-1 defeat at the hands of North Duplin.
Landon Neal was huge no matter where he played even without the win. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out nine over 4.1 innings pitched. Neal has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in five consecutive pitching appearances. Neal was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-1 with a stolen base and an RBI.
Neal wasn't the only one making solid contact as two players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Samuel Johnson, who went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases. Johnson has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last six times he's played.
Meanwhile, Hobbton suffered a tough 9-3 loss at the hands of Neuse Charter on Thursday. Hobbton has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Will Blackman was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he tossed 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits (he also only allowed one walk).
Lakewood's record now sits at 4-7. As for Hobbton, their record now sits at 5-3.
Lakewood came up short against Hobbton in their previous meeting back in April of 2023, falling 5-2. Thankfully for Lakewood, Bennet Darden (who didn't allow a single earned run while striking out seven over six innings pitched) 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
