The Belgrade Panthers will head out on the road to challenge the Billings Senior Broncs at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. Belgrade is coming into the match hot, having won their last nine games.
Belgrade is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Montana's top teams: Gallatin, who was ranked fourth in their home state at the time (Belgrade was ranked third). Belgrade came out on top in a nail-biter against Gallatin on Saturday and snuck past 10-8.
Olivia Mills was a major factor no matter where she played. She struck out seven batters over seven innings while giving up six earned (and two unearned) runs off eight hits. Mills has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in eight consecutive pitching appearances. Mills was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with four RBI.
In other batting news, Belgrade let Brooklyn Ragland and Sitara Osler loose on the outfield. Ragland scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-4, while Osler scored a run while going 2-for-4. Ragland has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times she's played.
Meanwhile, Billings Senior won against Gallatin on Thursday with 18 runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Saturday. Billings Senior blew past Bozeman 18-5. That's two games straight that Billings Senior has won by exactly 13 runs.
The team relied heavily on Madi Ban, who went 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Octavia Meyer, who scored two runs while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
Belgrade pushed their record up to 9-1 with that victory, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Billings Senior, the win got them back to even at 3-3-1.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Belgrade hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1.1 home runs per game. However, it's not like Billings Senior struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.7. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Belgrade might still be hurting after the 14-3 loss they got from Billings Senior when the teams last played back in May of 2023. Can Belgrade avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
