The Elkhart Lions are taking a road trip to challenge the NorthWood Panthers at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Elkhart sitting on five straight victories and NorthWood on three.
It was a proper cat-fight when Elkhart challenged South Bend Riley on Wednesday. The Lions put the hurt on the Wildcats with a sharp 15-2 win. Considering the Lions have won five games by more than six runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Quinn Rost
| 04/16/25 vs South Bend Riley | 9 |
| 05/11/24 vs Mishawaka | 8 |
| 05/18/24 vs Culver Academies | 6 |
| 05/06/24 vs South Bend Riley | 3 |
| 04/05/24 @ Fairfield | 3 |
Brady Kelly and Quinn Rost were a major factor while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Kelly pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Meanwhile, Rost didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out nine over four innings pitched. Those nine strikeouts gave him a new career-high. At bat, Kelly scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances, while Rost scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Rost is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Max Shreiner, who fired off two home runs, seven RBI, and four runs while going 3-for-3. Those seven RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Brady Sherwood, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, NorthWood made easy work of West Noble on Monday and carried off an 11-1 victory.
Mason Warren and Connor Reed did most of the damage at the plate: Warren scored two runs and stole three bases while going 1-for-1, while Reed scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was Landon Perry, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with two stolen bases.
NorthWood always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .529. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as West Noble only posted an OBP of .360.
NorthWood pushed their record up to 3-0 with the win, which was their third straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average this season. As for Elkhart, their record now sits at 5-1.
Elkhart suffered a grim 14-8 defeat to NorthWood when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can the Lions avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
