Softball Game Preview: Hersey Huskies vs. Loyola Academy Ramblers

The Hersey Huskies will face off against the Loyola Academy Ramblers at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Hersey is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup last Tuesday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Niles North a 5-0 shutout. The win continues a trend for the Huskies in their matchups with the Vikings: they've now won four in a row.

Meanwhile, Loyola Academy had already won nine in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.4 runs) and they went ahead and made it ten on Friday. They walked away with a 6-2 victory over the Blue Devils. Six seems to be a good number for the Ramblers as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.

Hunter Lewis made a big impact no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out 16 batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned runs off one hit (and only one walk). She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in 20 consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with three RBI and one triple. That triple marked the first that she has hit this season.

Lewis wasn't the only one making solid contact as six players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Chloe Takacs, who went 1-for-4 with two RBI and one double.

Loyola Academy pushed their record up to 16-15 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.2 runs on average over those games. As for Hersey, their victory bumped their record up to 19-10.

Hersey came up short against Loyola Academy when the teams last played two weeks ago, falling 7-2. Can the Huskies avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.