Softball Preview: Fuquay - Varina Bengals vs. Willow Spring Storm
The Fuquay - Varina Bengals will head out on the road to challenge the Willow Spring Storm at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
After only one run in their last game, Fuquay - Varina made sure to put some runs up on the board against South Garner on Wednesday. Fuquay - Varina was the clear victor by an 11-1 margin over South Garner.
Kylie McGrogan spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on three hits and racked up 13 Ks. Those seven innings set a new season-high mark for her.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Ayala Durant, who went 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs. She has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times she's played. Another player making a difference was Chloe Webb, who went 3-for-4 with two triples, two runs, and an RBI.
Meanwhile, Willow Spring had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8 runs), and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. Everything went their way against the Pirates as they made off with an 11-1 win.
Willow Spring also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and she was also dialed-in: Kathryn Whitehurst gave up one run (which was unearned) on five hits.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Rachel Humphries, who fired off two home runs and six RBI while going 2-for-4. Morgan Derby was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 3-for-3.
Fuquay - Varina is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-5 record this season. As for Willow Spring, they pushed their record up to 12-3 with that victory, which was their sixth straight on the road.
Fuquay - Varina skirted past Willow Spring 5-4 in their previous matchup back in March of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Fuquay - Varina since the team 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
