Softball Preview: Downingtown East Cougars vs. Downingtown West Whippets
Downingtown East is on a 23-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Downingtown West is on a 12-game streak of away wins (dating back to last season): one of those streaks is about to end. The Downingtown East Cougars will take on the Downingtown West Whippets at 3:45 p.m. on Friday. Both teams have allowed few runs on average, (Downingtown East: 0.9, Downingtown West: 1.2) so any runs scored will be well earned.
On Wednesday, Downingtown East earned a 5-1 victory over Bayard Rustin.
Rachael Schumann spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered one run (which was unearned) on one hit and racked up 19 Ks. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in 17 consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Downingtown East saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Lilly Waterer, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Meanwhile, Downingtown West can now show off 11 landslide victories after their most recent contest on Wednesday. They blew past Unionville 11-1.
Downingtown West also got a great performance from Addison Carter as she struck out nine batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits (and not a single walk).
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Emma Ahlborn, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3. Another player making a difference was Lizzie Kern, who scored a run and stole a base while going 3-for-3.
Downingtown East's win bumped their record up to 17-1. As for Downingtown West, their victory bumped their record up to 18-0.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Downingtown East has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 12 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Downingtown West struggles in that department as they've been averaging 10.8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Downingtown East couldn't quite finish off Downingtown West in their previous meeting back in April and fell 2-0. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Carter, who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 12 over eight innings pitched. Now that Downingtown East knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
