The Clay Panthers will challenge the West Union Dragons at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The timing is sure in Clay's favor as the squad sits on six straight wins at home while West Union has been banged up by 14 consecutive losses on the road dating back to last season.
Clay's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They walked away with a 5-0 victory over Paint Valley.
Laney Shepherd made a big impact no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out 13 over seven innings pitched. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Maddie Penix, who went 1-for-3 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. Sarah Cassidy was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one run.
Meanwhile, West Union didn't have quite enough to beat Lynchburg-Clay on Thursday and fell 10-8.
Olivia Lewis was cooking despite her team's loss, going 2-for-4 with three stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was MacKenzie Stout, who went 1-for-4 with one home run and two RBI.
Clay has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-6 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.8 runs over those games. As for West Union, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-7.
Everything went Clay's way against West Union when the teams last played back in March of 2024, as Clay made off with a 12-5 victory. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Dragons have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
