A feisty cat fight will be fought as East Iberville Tigers face off against McKinley Panthers at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. East Iberville will be strutting in after a victory while McKinley will be coming in after a defeat.
East Iberville will bounce into Thursday's match after beating Liberty Magnet, who they had gone 0-4 against in their four prior meetings. East Iberville came out on top against Liberty Magnet by a score of 8-3 on Saturday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Tigers.
Colton Melancon
| 03/01/25 vs Liberty Magnet | 3 |
| 02/14/25 vs Warren Easton | 2 |
| 02/10/25 @ Donaldsonville | 2 |
| 02/28/25 @ Southern Lab | 1 |
Colton Melancon made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out 11 batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off six hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing Three bases. while getting on base in all five of his plate appearances. East Iberville is 2-1 when Melancon posts two or more stolen bases, but 2-3 otherwise.
In other batting news, East Iberville let Cort Willis and Chene Thompson run wild. Willis got on base in all four of his plate appearances with one stolen base and one RBI, while Thompson scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-4. Thompson is becoming a predictor of East Iberville's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 1-4 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Kade Cantrelle, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in two of his five plate appearances.
East Iberville always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .525. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Liberty Magnet only posted an OBP of .276.
Meanwhile, Saturday just wasn't the day for McKinley's offense. They came up short against Tara on Saturday, falling 15-0. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
The win got East Iberville back to even at 4-4. As for McKinley, they now have a losing record of 2-3.
Everything went East Iberville's way against McKinley in their previous matchup back in March of 2024, as East Iberville made off with a 13-1 victory. Will East Iberville repeat their success, or does McKinley have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
