Softball Preview: Pottsville Crimson Tide vs. Blue Mountain Eagles
Pottsville has enjoyed the comforts of home their last four games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will square off against the Blue Mountain Eagles at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Pottsville is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7 runs per game this season.
Pottsville lost 17-5 to Pine Grove on Thursday. The defeat continues a trend for Pottsville in their matchups with Pine Grove: they've now lost four in a row.
Jes Siminitus made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. Madison Thomas was another key contributor, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Blue Mountain had already won nine in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.9 runs), and they went ahead and made it ten on Saturday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past the Hawks 2-1.
Marla Freiwald spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on five hits and racked up 12 Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in ten consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Blue Mountain saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Courtney Cavadini, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI and a double.
Pottsville's loss dropped their record down to 9-6. As for Blue Mountain, their win was their 24th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 15-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Pottsville has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Blue Mountain struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.6. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Pottsville suffered a grim 14-3 defeat to Blue Mountain when the teams last played two weeks ago. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Freiwald, who struck out 15 batters over seven innings while giving up three earned runs off seven hits. Now that Pottsville knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
