Softball Preview: East Hamilton Hurricanes vs. Cleveland Blue Raiders
East Hamilton is 10-0 against Cleveland since April of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The East Hamilton Hurricanes will head out on the road to take on the Cleveland Blue Raiders at 5:00 p.m. East Hamilton's pitching crew has only allowed 3.4 runs per game this season, so Cleveland's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Cleveland is hoping to do on Thursday what Ooltewah couldn't on Tuesday: put an end to East Hamilton's winning streak, which now stands at three games. Everything went East Hamilton's way against Ooltewah as East Hamilton made off with a 10-1 victory. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for East Hamilton considering their one-run performance the contest before.
Yulai Woodruff was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out 14 over six innings pitched. Woodruff has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in four consecutive pitching appearances. Woodruff was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, East Hamilton let Alana Johnson and Faith Wadley loose on the outfield. Johnson went 1-for-3 with a home run, four RBI, and two runs, while Wadley scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Madilyn Evans, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Cleveland came out on top against Rhea County on Tuesday by a score of 3-1 (the very same score they lost by in their prior game).
Like East Hamilton, Cleveland also got a great game from a two-way player: Ashley Allen. She pitched seven innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. Allen was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with a home run.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Lily O'Bryan, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in two of her four plate appearances.
The win got East Hamilton back to even at 6-6. As for Cleveland, their record now sits at 15-11.
East Hamilton came out on top in a nail-biter against Cleveland in their previous meeting back in March, sneaking past 4-3. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Allen, who struck out six batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will East Hamilton still be able to contain Allen? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
