The Greenbrier Christian Academy Gators will square off against the Point Pleasant Big Blacks at 8:00 a.m. on Friday. Greenbrier Christian Academy is coming into the contest on a five-game losing streak.
Greenbrier Christian Academy's tournament run continued when they took on Archbishop Hoban on Thursday. The Gators came up short against the Knights, falling 7-1. That's two games in a row now that the Gators have lost by exactly six runs.
Lena Burnsworth made the most of her time in the batter's box despite the final result and went 2-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run. That triple was her first of the season.
Meanwhile, Point Pleasant got the win against Cheraw on Thursday by a conclusive 13-6. With that win, the Big Blacks brought their scoring average up to 6.3 runs per game.
Kyla Queen and Chloe Patrick did most of the damage at the plate: Queen got on base in three of her four plate appearances with four stolen bases and four runs, while Patrick went 1-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and one stolen base. Those four runs gave Queen a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Josie Shobe, who went 1-for-4 with one triple, two RBI, and one run.
Point Pleasant kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 13 hits. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their hit total in three consecutive games.
Point Pleasant is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last nine matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 9-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.1 runs on average over those games. As for Greenbrier Christian Academy, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-8.
Point Pleasant's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Friday. Greenbrier Christian Academy has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.3 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Point Pleasant, though, as they've been averaging only 3.4 strikeouts. Will Greenbrier Christian Academy keep running through batters, or will the Big Blacks buck the trend?
Everything went Greenbrier Christian Academy's way against Point Pleasant in their previous meeting back in April of 2022, as Greenbrier Christian Academy made off with a 9-1 win. Do the Gators have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Big Blacks turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
