The Petal Panthers will head out to take on the Brandon Bulldogs at 6:45 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Petal 3.7, Brandon 3.6) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Petal is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Mississippi's top teams: Northwest Rankin, who was ranked fifth at the time (Petal was ranked 17th). Petal fell 5-2 to Northwest Rankin on Tuesday. The loss continues a trend for the Panthers in their meetings with the Cougars: they've now lost three in a row.
Petal saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Gracie Drinkwine, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one RBI. Kenleigh Morgan also deserves some recognition as she scored her first run of the season.
Meanwhile, Brandon put another one in the bag on Thursday to keep their perfect season alive. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 5-4 W against Sumrall.
The team relied heavily on Hannah Jo Sullivan, who scored three runs and stole Two bases. while going 2-for-3.
Brandon lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now launched at least two home runs in three consecutive matches.
Brandon pushed their record up to 13-0 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Petal, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-5.
Petal couldn't quite finish off Brandon when the teams last played back in April of 2024 and fell 8-6. Can Petal 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
