The Hyde Park Panthers will face off against the Grace Community Cougars at 2:00 p.m. on Monday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Grace Community will square off against a team with plenty of momentum: Hyde Park extended their winning streak to three on Thursday. Everything went the Panthers' way against Brentwood Christian as they made off with a 17-1 victory. The result was nothing new for the Panthers, who have now won ten games by six runs or more so far this season.
Alexandra Akins
| 04/17/25 vs Brentwood Christian | 0 |
| 04/07/25 @ Brook Hill | 1 |
| 03/25/25 @ Cornerstone Christian | 1 |
| 03/25/25 @ Cornerstone Christian | 1 |
Alexandra Akins made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she tossed 1.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going a perfect 1-for-1 with two runs, one triple, and one RBI. That's the most runs she has posted since back in February.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Cariana Stout, who went 1-for-3 with one home run and four RBI. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in February. Another player making a difference was Mary Alice White, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Grace Community, who bounced back after a loss on the road back in March. They never let Winona get on the board and left with a 15-0 win back in March. That looming 15-0 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Cougars yet this season.
Isabel Buchanan was incredible, firing off two home runs, five RBI, and three runs while going 2-for-2. Emma Kinney was another key player, going a perfect 1-for-1 with two RBI and one run.
Hyde Park's victory was their 27th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 14-4. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Grace Community, the victory got them back to even at 5-5.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Monday. Hyde Park hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.7 home runs per game. However, it's not like Grace Community struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Everything went Hyde Park's way against Grace Community in their previous meeting back in February of 2023, as Hyde Park made off with a 7-0 win. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Cougars have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
