Softball Preview: Centennial Eagles vs. Vero Beach Indians
Centennial and Vero Beach are an even 5-5 against one another since March of 2020, but likely not for long. The Centennial Eagles will head out on the road to square off against the Vero Beach Indians at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Centennial has 11 straight victories, Vero Beach has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Centennial put the finishing touches on their fifth blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Martin County as Centennial made off with a 6-0 win.
Hailey Brereton made a big impact no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and only one hit while striking out 17 over seven innings pitched. Brereton has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in 13 consecutive pitching appearances. Brereton was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Jaelyn Cooke, who went 2-for-4 with a home run. Another player making a difference was Autumn Prakash, who scored a run while going 1-for-4.
Meanwhile, Vero Beach came up short against Lincoln Park Academy on Thursday and fell 5-1.
Centennial's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-4. Those good results were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.2 runs per game. As for Vero Beach, their loss dropped their record down to 8-7-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Centennial has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 13.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Vero Beach struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.6. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went Centennial's way against Vero Beach in their previous matchup back in March as Centennial made off with a 7-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Centennial 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
