Preview: Maranatha Christian Eagles vs. Tri-City Christian Eagles
Maranatha Christian is 2-8 against Tri-City Christian since April of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Maranatha Christian Eagles will head out on the road to square off against the Tri-City Christian Eagles at 3:00 p.m. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Tuesday, Maranatha Christian never let their opponents score. They walked away with a 4-0 win over Francis Parker. The victory was just what Maranatha Christian needed coming off of a 10-0 defeat in their prior game.
Lillian Visser made a big impact no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 18 over seven innings pitched. Visser has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts every time she's pitched this season. Visser was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-3.
Visser wasn't the only one making solid contact as five players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Abby Morales, who went 1-for-2 with two RBI.
Meanwhile, Tri-City Christian can now show off three landslide victories after their most recent match on Tuesday. Everything went their way against La Jolla Country Day as Tri-City Christian made off with a 13-0 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Tri-City Christian.
Nadiya Ybarra tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and only one hit over five innings pitched.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Abby Lisak, who went 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs, and a stolen base. Another player making a difference was Arantxa Espejo, who went 1-for-2 with a triple, two RBI, and a run.
Maranatha Christian's record is now 2-3. As for Tri-City Christian, their record now sits at 5-3.
Friday's contest will pit two of the most dominant pitchers against one another: Visser and Ybarra. Visser has put up some stellar numbers this year, and currently owns excellent season averages has been strong no matter where she plays. On the mound, she has an ERA of 1.81 over 27 innings pitched. Meanwhile, at bat she has slashed 0.462/0.632/0.692 for 5 runs. For her part, Ybarra has averaged has an ERA of 1.81 over 38.2 innings pitched.
Tri-City Christian's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Friday. Maranatha Christian has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 12.4 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Tri-City Christian, though, as they've been averaging only 2.6 per game. Will Maranatha Christian keep running through batters, or will Tri-City Christian buck the trend? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
