Softball Preview: Vanguard Knights vs. Lake Weir Hurricanes
The Vanguard Knights will head out on the road to challenge the Lake Weir Hurricanes at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Vanguard has five straight victories, Lake Weir has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Vanguard's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. They came out on top against Umatilla by a score of 3-0.
Vanguard let Jaelynne Whipple and Destiny Horcajo loose on the outfield. Whipple scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2, while Horcajo went 1-for-4 with a home run.
Meanwhile, Lake Weir came up short against West Port on Tuesday and fell 7-4.
Beth Levy spent all eight innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered four earned (and two unearned) runs on five hits and racked up nine Ks.
At the plate, Lake Weir saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Harper Foote, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Hannah Atkinson was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-4.
Vanguard pushed their record up to 14-5 with that win, which was their third straight at home. As for Lake Weir, their loss dropped their record down to 3-15.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Wednesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Vanguard has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Lake Weir struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.7. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Vanguard beat Lake Weir 4-0 in their previous matchup back in March. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Levy, who pitched seven innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off 11 hits. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Vanguard still be able to contain Levy? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
