Mustangs
| 04/21/26 @ Holly Springs | 8 |
| 04/17/26 vs Cary | 10 |
| 04/14/26 @ Cary | 16 |
| 04/10/26 @ Grace Christian | 2 |
| 04/09/26 vs Heritage | 3 |
| + 9 more games |
The Middle Creek Mustangs will square off against the Garner Trojans at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Middle Creek is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.1 runs per game this season.
Middle Creek will bounce into Thursday's matchup after beating Holly Springs, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. The Mustangs came out on top against the Golden Hawks by a score of 8-5 on Tuesday. Winning may never get old, but the Mustangs sure are getting used to it with their third in a row.
Hailey Hoeft made a big impact no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out eight batters over seven innings while giving up three earned (and two unearned) runs off five hits. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in three consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Kennedy Johnson, who got on base in all four of her plate appearances with three runs and one RBI. Tori Gore was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two runs and one triple.
Meanwhile, Garner fell victim to Fuquay-Varina and their airtight pitching crew on Tuesday. They lost 16-0 to the Bengals. Having soared to a lofty 31 runs in the game before, the Trojans' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.
Garner saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Kaitlyn Dean, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base.
Garner has also been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 4-10 record this season. As for Middle Creek, their win bumped their record up to 8-6.
Garner's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Thursday. Middle Creek has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.7 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Garner, though, as they've been averaging only 3.1 strikeouts. Will Middle Creek keep running through batters, or will the Trojans buck the trend?
Middle Creek skirted past Garner 5-3 in their previous meeting back in March. Will the Mustangs repeat their success, or do the Trojans have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
