The Southport Cardinals will head out on the road to challenge the North Central Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Monday, Southport beat Bloomington North 5-1.
Bryce Calvert spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on seven hits and racked up eight Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Southport's victory was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Jacob Rodriguez, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Nick Godsey was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, North Central put the finishing touches on their fifth blowout victory of the season on Wednesday. They blew past Lawrence Central 8-1.
North Central also got a great performance from Tristan Wilson as he didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out six over six innings pitched.
At the plate, North Central let Rykin Matthias and Abel Flessner loose on the outfield. Matthias scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances, while Flessner scored two runs and stole two bases while going 1-for-2. Another player making a difference was Heath Kizer, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Southport's record now sits at 7-9. As for North Central, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last nine matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 9-7 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Southport has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like North Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.6. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Southport suffered a grim 12-2 defeat to North Central in their previous meeting back in May of 2023. Can Southport avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
