Baseball Game Preview: Hardaway Hawks vs. Sumter County Panthers

Hawks

Runs

03/11/25 vs Shaw	6
03/04/25 vs Jordan	4
02/28/25 @ Columbus	1
02/25/25 @ Kendrick	21
02/24/25 vs Monroe	6
+ 7 more games

Hardaway has gone a perfect 5-0 against Sumter County recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Hardaway Hawks will venture away from home to square off against the Sumter County Panthers at 5:30 p.m. Hardaway is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9 runs per game this season.

Hardaway will head out to face Sumter County after giving up their first home loss of the season on Tuesday. Hardaway took an 11-6 hit to the loss column at the hands of Shaw.

Hardaway saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Kevin Williams, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.

Meanwhile, Sumter County entered their tilt with Kendrick on Wednesday with two consecutive wins , and they'll enter their next game with three. They put the hurt on the Cherokees with a sharp 30-16 win.

The team relied heavily on Ter'Kaevian Rush, who scored three runs and stole Two bases. while getting on base in all five of his plate appearances. He has become a key player for Sumter County: the team is 2-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 2-7 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Nolan Minter, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.

Sumter County always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .818. The last time their OBP was this high was since the start of last season.

Sumter County's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 4-8. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 27.8 runs over those games. As for Hardaway, their loss dropped their record down to 8-4.

The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Hardaway has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 13.2 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Sumter County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.6 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.