Softball Preview: East Moline United Panthers vs. Geneseo Maple Leafs
After five games on the road, East Moline United is heading back home. They will take on the Geneseo Maple Leafs at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
East Moline United is headed into the matchup fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Everything went their way against Galesburg on Tuesday as East Moline United made off with a 17-1 victory. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for East Moline United considering their one-run performance the contest before.
Emily Stevens and Samantha Verstraete made a splash while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Stevens pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Verstraete tossed two innings while giving up no earned run off one hit. Stevens has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive pitching appearances. At the plate, Stevens scored two runs while going 2-for-3, while Verstraete scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Kaylie Pe?a, who went 3-for-4 with three runs, a triple, and a double. Another player making a difference was Kendall Crawford, who scored three runs while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Geneseo was not the first on the board on Wednesday, but they got there more often. They put the hurt on Erie-Prophetstown with a sharp 17-7 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Geneseo.
Emily Bopes was incredible, scoring three runs while going 4-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Addison Dykstra, who went 2-for-2 with four RBI, a run, and a double.
East Moline United's victory ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 10-6. As for Geneseo, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 12-9 record this season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. East Moline United hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like Geneseo struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.9. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Everything went East Moline United's way against Geneseo in their previous meeting on April 5th as East Moline United made off with a 15-6 win. Will East Moline United repeat their success, or does Geneseo have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
