Softball Preview: Whitney Wildcats vs. Oak Ridge Trojans
The Whitney Wildcats will head out on the road to face off against the Oak Ridge Trojans at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Whitney sitting on ten straight wins and Oak Ridge on five.
Whitney's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Folsom 1-0.
The result came thanks to Paige Tamblyn's shutout, as she gave up just four hits.
At the plate, Whitney saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Bailey Reynolds, who went 2-for-3 with a double.
Meanwhile, Oak Ridge stacked a seventh blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Tuesday. They put the hurt on Del Oro with a sharp 10-0 win.
Kennedi Freeland tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run over five innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in eight consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Oak Ridge got a massive performance out of Brooklyn Paratore, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances. Sam Alekman was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-2.
Whitney pushed their record up to 14-2 with that victory, which was their seventh straight on the road. As for Oak Ridge, their win bumped their record up to 17-3.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Whitney has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Oak Ridge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Whitney came out on top in a nail-biter against Oak Ridge when the teams last played back in April, sneaking past 4-3. Will Whitney repeat their success, or does Oak Ridge have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
