The North Laurel Jaguars will head out on the road to face off against the Madison Central Indians at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: North Laurel has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Madison Central will arrive with six straight victories.
North Laurel is headed into the matchup having just suffered their closest defeat since May 15, 2025 on Tuesday. They fell just short of Hazard by a score of 12-10. Even if the Jaguars couldn't come away with the win, the high-scoring effort was a great turnaround for their hitters, which had struggled int the games prior.
Tessa Monhollen was huge no matter where she played even without the win. She looked comfortable on the mound, tossing two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Monhollen was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
In other batting news, Katie Sams and Emma Carl stepped up to the plate in a big way. Sams went 2-for-3 with one home run, three runs, and two RBI, while Carl went 3-for-5 with one home run, two runs, and one stolen base. Lucy Jo Linville was another key player, going 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI.
Meanwhile, it was close, but on Tuesday Madison Central sidestepped Pulaski County for a 4-2 victory. That's two games straight that the Indians have won by exactly two runs.
Kate Drury spent all eight innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on five hits and racked up 11 Ks. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 14 consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Madison Central saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Reille Parks, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base and one run. Parks is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as she's now snagged at least one in each of the last six games she's played.
Madison Central's win bumped their record up to 20-7. As for North Laurel, their loss dropped their record down to 27-5.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. North Laurel hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like Madison Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.4 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
North Laurel couldn't quite finish off Madison Central in their previous matchup back in May of 2019 and fell 4-2. Can the Jaguars avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
