Hobbton is 9-1 against Lakewood since April of 2021 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Wildcats will welcome the Leopards at 6:00 p.m. Hobbton's pitching crew has only allowed four runs per game this season, so Lakewood's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Hobbton will roll into the matchup after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up two runs on Thursday, then bounced right back against Wallace-Rose Hill on Wednesday. The Wildcats were the clear victors by a 17-2 margin over the Bulldogs. Considering the Wildcats have won seven contests by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Lathan Warren
| 04/09/25 @ Wallace-Rose Hill | 4 |
| 03/12/25 @ Spring Creek | 3 |
| 03/06/25 vs Princeton | 2 |
| 03/31/25 @ Pender | 1 |
| 03/07/25 vs Heide Trask | 1 |
Lathan Warren was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He pitched six innings while giving up just two earned runs off seven hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four). He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
In other batting news, Hobbton let Kasey Lee and Ayden Lawson run wild. Lee scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-5, while Lawson scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-4. Those three hits gave Lawson a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Thomas Tart, who scored a run while going 2-for-5.
Hobbton always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .533. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Wallace-Rose Hill only posted an OBP of .385.
Meanwhile, Lakewood hadn't done well against North Duplin recently (they were 0-9 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. The Leopards walked away with a 7-2 victory over the Rebels. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Leopards.
With the win, Hobbton broke their three-game losing streak and moved their record to 10-5. As for Lakewood, their victory bumped their record up to 7-8.
Everything went Hobbton's way against Lakewood when the teams last played back in March, as Hobbton made off with a 6-0 win. Will the Wildcats repeat their success, or do the Leopards have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
