Softball Preview: Handley Tigers vs. Cherokee County Warriors
The Handley Tigers will be staying on the road on Tuesday to face off against the Cherokee County Warriors at 5:00 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Handley stacked a ninth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Thursday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Munford a 7-0 shutout.
Mariana Whaley spent all seven innings played on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just zero earned runs on two hits and racked up 12 Ks.
At the plate, Kam Holloway and Ava Hill did most of the damage at the plate: Holloway scored a run while going 1-for-4, while Hill scored a run while going 3-for-4. Kia Brown was another key contributor, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Cherokee County pushed their score to 14 the last time they played they, but on Monday they couldn't quite do it again. They skirted past Ashville 2-0.
Cherokee County also let their pitcher toss all ten innings and she was also dialed-in: Emma Hill gave up just zero earned runs on four hits and racked up 16 Ks. Hill has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than nine strikeouts in three consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Cherokee County's victory was truly a team effort as three different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Abby Lea, who went 1-for-4 with two RBI.
Handley's win was their seventh straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 11-3. Those victories were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.1 runs per game. As for Cherokee County, they are on a roll lately: they've won 15 of their last 16 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 22-3 record this season.
Handley came up short against Cherokee County in their previous matchup back in March of 2022, falling 6-2. Can Handley avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
