Baseball Preview: Great Bend Panthers vs. Hutchinson Salthawks
Great Bend and Hutchinson are an even 5-5 against one another since March of 2015, but likely not for long. The Great Bend Panthers will head out on the road to face off against the Hutchinson Salthawks at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday. Great Bend will be coming into the contest with an undefeated record on the line.
After only one run in their last matchup, Great Bend made sure to put some runs up on the board against Pratt on Saturday. Great Bend came out on top against Pratt by a score of 10-6.
Owen Kaiser made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing four innings while giving up just two earned runs off one hit. Kaiser was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two RBI.
In other batting news, Great Bend let Carson Umphres and JJ Grove loose on the outfield. Umphres scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances, while Grove scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Ian Premer was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Hutchinson earned a 6-1 win over Pratt on Thursday.
Great Bend's victory was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-0. Those good results, didn't necessarily come from the team's hitting performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 3.8 runs per game. As for Hutchinson, the win got them back to even at 1-1.
Great Bend took their victory against Hutchinson in their previous meeting back in March of 2023 by a conclusive 16-6. The rematch might be a little tougher for Great Bend since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
