Softball Preview: North Sanpete Hawks vs. Emery Spartans
The North Sanpete Hawks will be playing at home against the Emery Spartans at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Emery is hoping to do on Tuesday what Juab couldn't on Friday: put an end to North Sanpete's winning streak, which now stands at five games. North Sanpete's pitcher stepped up to hand Juab a 16-0 shutout. For those curious, yes, that was the biggest win North Sanpete has managed all season.
Paeton Johnson was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 12 over five innings pitched. Johnson was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 3-for-4.
In other batting news, North Sanpete let Payton Johnson and Indigo North loose on the outfield. Johnson scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4, while North got on base in three of her four plate appearances with a home run, two runs, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Madyson Steadman, who scored three runs while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Emery made easy work of Delta on Friday and carried off an 11-1 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for Emery.
Like North Sanpete, Emery also got a great game from a two-way player: Brooklynn Ekker. On the mound, she tossed three innings while giving up no earned run off one hit. Ekker was also stellar in the batter's box, going 1-for-2 with a home run and two runs.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Madi Bunnell, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 1-for-4. Tailynn Minchey was another key contributor, scoring a run while going 1-for-2.
North Sanpete has been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 12 games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-8 record this season. As for Emery, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-5.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Tuesday. North Sanpete hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like Emery struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.6. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
North Sanpete came out on top in a nail-biter against Emery when the teams last played back in March, sneaking past 6-5. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Ekker, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 3-for-3. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will North Sanpete still be able to contain Ekker? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
