The NorthWood Panthers will head out to take on the Concord Minutemen at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. NorthWood will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each game than the last.
NorthWood will bounce into Wednesday's contest after beating Goshen, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. The Panthers blew past the RedHawks 16-1 on Monday. The result was nothing new for the Panthers, who have now won five matchups by ten runs or more so far this season.
Victoria Vega was incredible, getting on base in all four of her plate appearances with one home run, four runs, and four RBI. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in May of 2024. Another player making a difference was Payton Sears, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one stolen base.
NorthWood always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .636. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Concord suffered their closest loss since April 17, 2024 on Monday. They fell just short of Wawasee by a score of 9-7. The defeat continues a trend for the Minutemen in their meetings with the Warriors: they've now lost three in a row.
Allison Ralston spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered nine runs (all of which were unearned) on nine hits.
At the plate, Cheyenne Collins led a balanced group of hitters, going 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Rheagan Stafford, who went 2-for-3 with four RBI and one run.
Concord's loss dropped their record down to 8-6. As for NorthWood, their win ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 8-6.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Wednesday. NorthWood hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1.4 home runs per game. However, it's not like Concord struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.6 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
NorthWood couldn't quite get it done against Concord in their previous meeting two weeks ago as they fell 13-9. Can the Panthers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
