The Fairfield Lions will square off against the Fayetteville-Perry Rockets at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Fairfield sitting on four straight wins and Fayetteville-Perry on three.
While Fairfield's victory against Peebles wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Lions sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with an 8-6 win over the Indians on Tuesday.
Rilee Quickle spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned (and four unearned) runs on five hits and racked up eight Ks.
On the hitting side, Fairfield let Carly Sanders and Kelsie Crowder run wild. Sanders scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4, while Crowder scored two runs while going 3-for-3. Whitlee Morrow was another key player, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Fayetteville-Perry got the win against Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington on Wednesday by a conclusive 7-1. That six run margin sets a new team best for the Rockets this season.
Victoria Thompson made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out 15 batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. Those 15 strikeouts gave her a new career-high. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base and one RBI.
In other batting news, Fayetteville-Perry got a massive performance out of Chloe Cox, who got on base in all four of her plate appearances with four RBI, one stolen base, and one double. Another player making a difference was Lilly Carlier, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.
Fayetteville-Perry was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .435. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .321 or higher every time they've taken the field this season.
Fayetteville-Perry pushed their record up to 3-2 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Fairfield, their victory bumped their record up to 4-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Fairfield has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Fayetteville-Perry struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.4 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Fairfield took their win against Fayetteville-Perry in their previous meeting back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 13-2 score. Will the Lions repeat their success, or do the Rockets have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
