Softball Recap: Friday's Victory Is Clay's Fifth in Last Six Outings

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Previous 4 Games

04/18/25 - Home	5-0 W
05/09/19 - Home	4-8 L
05/10/18 - Neutral	11-1 W
05/20/17 - Home	2-1 W

Clay owes their pitching crew a big pat on the back after their performance on Friday. They walked away with a 5-0 victory over the Paint Valley Bearcats. For the Panthers, this counts as revenge for the 8-4 win the Bearcats walked away with the last time they faced one another back in May of 2019.

Laney Shepherd was a major factor no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out 13 over seven innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Maddie Penix, who went 1-for-3 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. Sarah Cassidy was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one run.

Clay has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matchups. That's provided a massive bump to their 8-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.5 runs on average over those games. As for Paint Valley, they are on a six-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 4-6.

Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Clay will host West Union at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The Panthers are facing the Dragons at the right time seeing as the Dragons are stuck on a seven-game losing streak. As for Paint Valley, they will look to defend their home field on Saturday against Fairfield at 11:00 a.m.