The Washington Panthers will square off against the Dunlap Eagles at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Washington 3.2, Dunlap 2.1) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Washington is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Illinois' top teams: East Peoria, who was ranked 22nd at the time (Washington was ranked 20th). The Panthers walked away with a 4-1 victory over the Raiders on Tuesday. Four seems to be a good number for the Panthers as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Dunlap, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Monday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Canton a 5-0 shutout on Tuesday. The victory continues a trend for the Eagles in their matchups with the Little Giants: they've now won eight in a row.
The result came thanks to Sutton Centoni's shutout, as she gave up just four hits and racked up 14 Ks. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in 13 consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Lexi Hohenbery, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with one home run and three RBI. Those three RBI gave her a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Addison Forsythe, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and one double.
Dunlap hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. The team has now struck out at least four batters in three consecutive matchups.
Dunlap's win bumped their record up to 25-7. As for Washington, their victory bumped their record up to 21-7.
Washington couldn't quite get it done against Dunlap in their previous meeting back in April as they fell 5-1. Will the Panthers have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps