The New London Wildcats will head out to challenge the St. Mary Central Catholic Panthers at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. New London is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 10.8 runs per game this season.
On Wednesday, New London made easy work of Western Reserve and carried off a 12-5 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Wildcats.
Paiton Shephard spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three earned (and two unearned) runs on seven hits and racked up seven Ks.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Madison Rowland, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Gracie Thomas, who went 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI.
Meanwhile, St. Mary Central Catholic was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their 16th straight loss. They were a single run away from ending the streak, but they lost a 7-6 heartbreaker at the hands of Bucyrus.
St. Mary Central Catholic saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Rachel Grimm, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Lauren Maxwell also deserves some recognition as she scored her first runs of the season.
New London's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 12-5. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.5 runs over those games. As for St. Mary Central Catholic, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-16.
St. Mary Central Catholic's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: New London has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10.4 hits per game. It's a different story for St. Mary Central Catholic, though, as they've been averaging 13.6 hits. Given New London's sizable advantage in that area, the Panthers will need to find a way to close that gap.
New London took their win against St. Mary Central Catholic when the teams last played back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 20-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Wildcats since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
