The Cottondale Hornets will head out on the road to face off against the Port St. Joe Tiger Sharks at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Cottondale will be looking to extend their current six-game winning streak.
Cottondale's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They walked away with a 3-0 victory over Blountstown.
The result came thanks to Annelise Skipper's shutout, as she gave up just a hit and racked up 15 Ks. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in ten consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Cottondale's win was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Marley Green, who scored two runs while going 1-for-3.
Port St. Joe never got on the board in their matchup on Tuesday, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Sneads last Thursday. They blew past the Pirates 17-0. Considering the Tiger Sharks have won ten games by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
KK McNair made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. McNair was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-4. That's the most hits she has posted since back in February.
In other batting news, Port St. Joe got a massive performance out of Addy Silcox, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-4. The dominant performance also gave Silcox a new career-high in RBI (three). Another player making a difference was Elli Newman, who scored three runs while going 3-for-3.
Port St. Joe kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 16 hits. That's the most hits they've managed all season.
Cottondale pushed their record up to 10-3 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Port St. Joe, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 11-4 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Cottondale has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 10.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Port St. Joe struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Cottondale might still be hurting after the 7-0 loss they got from Port St. Joe in their previous matchup back in March. Can the Hornets avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
