The Warren Central Vikings will challenge the Petal Panthers at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Warren Central let Germantown stack four runs on them in the second inning on Thursday but luckily Warren Central prevailed anyway. The Vikings came out on top in a nail-biter against the Mavericks, sneaking past 5-4. The victory continues a trend for the Vikings in their matchups with the Mavericks: they've now won three in a row.
Caden Cole was incredible, going 2-for-4 with two triples, two RBI, and one run. Those two triples gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Justin Evans, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and one double.
Meanwhile, on Thursday Petal's undefeated season almost came to an end. They had just enough and edged out Madison Central 8-6. Eight seems to be a good number for the Panthers as the team scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.
The team relied heavily on Fischer Howell, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. That home run marked the first that he has launched this season. Dawson Dykess was another key player, going 2-for-4 with one triple, one run, and one RBI.
Petal kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 15 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in three consecutive contests.
Petal's victory bumped their record up to 5-0. As for Warren Central, their win bumped their record up to 3-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Warren Central has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Petal struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.4 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.