Softball Preview: Crete Cardinals vs. Beatrice Orangemen
The Crete Cardinals will face off against the Beatrice Orangemen on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Beatrice is hoping to do what Milford couldn't on Tuesday: put an end to Crete's winning streak, which now stands at three games. Crete never let Milford onto the board and left with a 14-0 victory.
Madynn Dunham was a major factor no matter where she played. She didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out seven over five innings pitched. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in nine consecutive pitching appearances. She was also big at the plate, firing off two home runs, six RBI, and six RBI while going 3-for-4.
In other batting news, Kacey Dunaway was incredible, scoring three runs while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was Makesha Smith, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Crete lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 0 home runs per game earlier this season, but in their last five matches they've averaged 1.
Meanwhile, Beatrice's hitters rose to the challenge against a Rams pitching crew that boasted an average of only 3.82 runs allowed on Tuesday. Beatrice was the clear victor by a 13-5 margin over Ralston.
Crete has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 16-4 record this season. As for Beatrice, their win was their 12th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 17-4.
Crete came out on top in a nail-biter against Beatrice in their previous matchup back in September of 2022, sneaking past 3-1. Does Crete have another victory up their sleeve, or will Beatrice turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
