Softball Preview: Downingtown East Cougars vs. Bayard Rustin Golden Knights
Downingtown East is on a 22-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Bayard Rustin is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Downingtown East Cougars will take on the Bayard Rustin Golden Knights at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
On Monday, everything went Downingtown East's way against Henderson as Downingtown East made off with a 9-1 victory.
Rachael Schumann spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered one run (which was unearned) on four hits and racked up 13 Ks. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in 16 consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Julia Murray and Hailey Long did most of the damage at the plate: Murray scored a run while going 2-for-4, while Long scored two runs while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Lilly Waterer, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI and a double.
Meanwhile, Bayard Rustin got themselves on the board against Sun Valley on Monday, but Sun Valley never followed suit. They put the hurt on the Vanguards with a sharp 10-0 win.
Kelly Fricker and Jenna Kraft did most of the damage at the plate: Fricker went 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBI, and a double, while Kraft went 1-for-2 with a home run and two runs. Another player making a difference was Olivia Shuffler, who went 1-for-3 with a home run.
Downingtown East's victory bumped their record up to 16-1. As for Bayard Rustin, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-3 record this season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Wednesday. Downingtown East hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.9 home runs per game. However, it's not like Bayard Rustin struggles in that department as they've been averaging 1.1. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Everything went Downingtown East's way against Bayard Rustin when the teams last played back in April of 2023 as Downingtown East made off with a 9-3 win. Will Downingtown East repeat their success, or does Bayard Rustin have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
