Softball Preview: Elk Grove Thundering Herd vs. Pleasant Grove Eagles
The Elk Grove Thundering Herd will head out on the road to face off against the Pleasant Grove Eagles at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Elk Grove's pitching crew has only allowed 3.4 runs per game this season, so Pleasant Grove's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Elk Grove is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Sheldon just ended the team's five-game winning streak on Monday. They fell just short of the Huskies by a score of 3-2.
Madison Carda spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and two unearned) runs on seven hits. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than six innings in three consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Katelyn Maciel made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and scored a run and stole two bases while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, in what's become a running theme this season, Pleasant Grove gave their fans yet another huge win on Monday. Everything went their way against Davis Sr. as Pleasant Grove made off with a 9-2 victory. Winning may never get old, but Pleasant Grove sure is getting used to it with their tenth in a row.
Madeline Lawson was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She struck out eight batters over four innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits (and not a single walk). Lawson was also big at the plate, going 4-for-4 with three RBI and a double.
In other batting news, Shealynn Stinson was incredible, going 3-for-5 with three runs, three RBI, and a triple. Another player making a difference was Natalie Brozaitis, who went 2-for-4 with a triple, two RBI, and a run.
Elk Grove's defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 16-9. As for Pleasant Grove, they pushed their record up to 16-3 with that win, which was their tenth straight on the road.
Elk Grove couldn't quite finish off Pleasant Grove when the teams last played back in April and fell 3-1. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Lawson, who didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over seven innings pitched. Now that Elk Grove knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
