The Hueytown Golden Gophers will square off against the Jasper Vikings at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Hueytown sitting on three straight wins and Jasper on four.
Hueytown's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They blew past Bessemer City 16-0.
Gracelyn McCarrell made a big impact no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out eight batters over 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and not a single walk). Those eight strikeouts gave her a new career-high. She was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while going 2-for-2.
K Kennedy
| 04/09/25 @ Bessemer City | 3 |
| 04/03/25 @ McAdory | 2 |
| 03/07/25 vs Bibb County | 2 |
| 03/04/25 @ Oak Grove | 2 |
| 02/25/25 vs Corner | 2 |
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on K Kennedy, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances. Those three runs gave her a new career-high.
Hueytown hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least four batters in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Jasper made easy work of Cullman on Tuesday and carried off a 6-0 victory.
Jasper got a big performance out of Lexi Kilgore, who scored a run while going 2-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Emma Lou Franks, who scored three runs while going 2-for-4.
Hueytown pushed their record up to 20-13 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Jasper, their win bumped their record up to 18-8.
Thursday's match will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Hueytown hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .348. However, it's not like Jasper struggles in that department as they've averaged .317. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Hueytown couldn't quite finish off Jasper in their previous meeting back in March and fell 4-2. Will the Golden Gophers 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.
