The Ridgewood Generals will take on the Hiland Hawks at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Ridgewood has four straight wins, Hiland has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Hiland's hitters are going to have their work cut out for them on Wednesday: Ridgewood hadn't allowed a single run the last three times they've hit the field. The Generals' pitcher stepped up to hand Zanesville a 17-0 shutout on Tuesday. The Generals might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six matches by six runs or more this season.
Addison Lahmers was a major factor no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only two hits while striking out 12 over five innings pitched. Lahmers was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one home run and three RBI. That home run marked the first that she has launched this season.
In other batting news, Ridgewood got a massive performance out of Miciah Cahill, who went 3-for-5 with five stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI. That's the most RBI Cahill has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Ava Kulbacki, who went 1-for-4 with one home run, two stolen bases, and two runs.
Ridgewood kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least ten hits in four consecutive contests.
Malvern hit Hiland with a seven-run third inning on Tuesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Hawks came up short against the Hornets, falling 15-4.
Lily Miller was cooking despite her team's loss, going a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs and one stolen base.
Ridgewood's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-5-1. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.0 runs on average over those games. As for Hiland, their loss dropped their record down to 1-8.
Hiland's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Wednesday. Ridgewood has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.1 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Hiland, though, as they've been averaging only 4.1 strikeouts. Will Ridgewood keep running through batters, or will the Hawks buck the trend?
Everything went Ridgewood's way against Hiland in their previous matchup on Monday, as Ridgewood made off with a 20-0 victory. Will the Generals repeat their success, or do the Hawks have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
