Softball Preview: East Paulding Raiders vs. Alexander Cougars
On Thursday East Paulding will have to hit the road after three straight games at home. They will venture away from home to take on the Alexander Cougars at 7:00 p.m. East Paulding is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.8 runs per game this season.
Alexander's hitters are going to have their work cut out for them on Thursday: East Paulding didn't have allowed a single run the last three times they've hit the field. East Paulding never let Villa Rica onto the board and left with a 6-0 win on Tuesday. Considering the Raiders have won 12 contests by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Not much got past JJ Sweat, who gave up just four hits and racked up 12 Ks to keep Villa Rica off the board. Sweat has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in four consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Emma Hernandez, who fired off three home runs while going 3-for-3. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in home runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Taylor Haney, who went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI.
East Paulding hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now struck out at most four strikeouts in six consecutive games.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Alexander). They put the hurt on New Manchester with a sharp 20-5 victory on Tuesday.
Erin Vineyard made a splash no matter where she played. On the mound, she tossed 1.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Vineyard was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs while going 3-for-3.
In other batting news, Lulu Berry and Ava Woodham did most of the damage at the plate: Berry scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-2, while Woodham went 4-for-4 with three RBI, two doubles, and a stolen base. Another player making a difference was Madison Smith, who scored three runs while going 2-for-3.
East Paulding pushed their record up to 18-3 with that win, which was their fourth straight at home. As for Alexander, their record now sits at 13-8.
Thursday's matchup will be a test for both team's pitchers. East Paulding hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of 0. However, it's not like Alexander struggles in that department as they've averaged 0. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
East Paulding beat Alexander 5-0 in their previous matchup back in August. The rematch might be a little tougher for East Paulding 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
