The Herscher Tigers will take on the Wilmington Wildcats at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Herscher comes in on four and Wilmington on three.
Herscher's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They put the hurt on Iroquois West with a sharp 15-0 win. Considering the Tigers have won six contests by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Anistin Hackley made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, pitching three innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits. Hackley was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in all four of her plate appearances with four RBI, one stolen base, and one run. That stolen base marked the first that she snagged this season.
In other batting news, RyLyn Adams was a standout: she scored three runs and stole two bases while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances. Addy Whitaker was another key player, scoring two runs while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
Herscher was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .529. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .320 or higher in four consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Wilmington narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Addison Trail 4-2.
Lexi Strohm spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned runs on six hits.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Taylor Stefancic, who scored a run while going 3-for-3. Another player making a difference was Nina Egizio, who scored a run while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
Wilmington pushed their record up to 10-2 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Herscher, their win bumped their record up to 9-2.
Both Herscher and Wilmington just can't seem to miss. The Tigers have been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 13.1 hits per game. However, it's not like Wilmington struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 5.6 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Herscher couldn't quite finish off Wilmington when the teams last played back in April of 2024 and fell 5-3. Can the Tigers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
