The West Ottawa Panthers will face off against the Holland Dutch at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. West Ottawa is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.2 runs per game this season.
West Ottawa's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. Everything went their way against Saugatuck as they made off with a 16-0 win. The Panthers' hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Caleb Montgomery
| 05/09/25 vs Saugatuck | 2 |
| 05/07/25 vs East Kentwood | 1 |
| 04/30/25 @ Forest Hills Central | 1 |
| 04/25/25 vs Byron Center | 1 |
| 03/27/25 @ Zeeland West | 1 |
West Ottawa let Trevyn Bethke and Caleb Montgomery run wild. Bethke went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI, while Montgomery went 2-for-3 with four RBI and one run. Those two hits gave Montgomery a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Jake Wagner, who went 1-for-2 with three runs.
West Ottawa was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .375. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Saugatuck only posted a batting average of .111.
Meanwhile, Holland entered their tilt with Thornapple Kellogg on Friday with two consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with three. They walked away with a 3-0 victory over the Trojans.
The result came thanks to Gabe Bos's shutout, as he gave up just a hit. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Holland is 2-1 when he allows at most two earned runs, but 3-12 otherwise.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Ethan Byrd, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
West Ottawa is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 12 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 15-11 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.1 runs on average over those games. As for Holland, their victory bumped their record up to 5-13.
West Ottawa beat Holland 5-1 in their previous matchup back in May of 2023. Do the Panthers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Dutch turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
