Softball Game Preview: Centralia Orphans vs. Richland County Tigers

The Centralia Orphans will head out to take on the Richland County Tigers at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The last three games Centralia has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.

On Wednesday, Centralia needed a bit of extra time to put away Murphysboro. They had just enough and edged out the Red Devils 5-4. That's two games straight that the Orphans have won by just one run.

Meanwhile, Richland County sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-4 victory over Carmi-White County on Wednesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Tigers.

Richland County saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Kaiya Seessengood, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and one double. Miranda Dowty was another, going 2-for-4 with one run and one double.

Centralia pushed their record up to 17-2 with the win, which was their ninth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.1 runs on average over those games. As for Richland County, their win bumped their record up to 11-8.

Centralia skirted past Richland County 1-0 when the teams last played back in May of 2023. Do the Orphans have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Tigers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.