Softball Preview: Grant Park Dragons vs. Gardner-South Wilmington Panthers
Grant Park and Gardner-South Wilmington are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2018, but likely not for long. The Grant Park Dragons will be playing in front of their home fans against the Gardner-South Wilmington Panthers at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Grant Park is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.8 runs per game this season.
Grant Park lost 9-3 to Gardner-South Wilmington on Tuesday. Grant Park has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Cheyenne Hayes was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. On the mound, she struck out 15 batters over six innings while giving up just one earned (and eight unearned) runs off five hits. Hayes has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive pitching appearances. Hayes was also solid in the batter's box, going 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
Hayes wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Camryn Karstensen, who went 1-for-3 with a stolen base and an RBI.
Even though they lost, Grant Park didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 15 strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Gardner-South Wilmington only tossed ten.
Grant Park's loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 10-10. As for Gardner-South Wilmington, their win bumped their record up to 8-11.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Grant Park has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Gardner-South Wilmington struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.5. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other softball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
