The Cascade Cadets are taking a road trip to face off against the Decatur Central Hawks at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Cascade's pitching crew has only allowed 3.8 runs per game this season, so Decatur Central's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Cascade barely beat Greencastle the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Cadets' pitcher stepped up to hand the Tiger Cubs a 12-0 shutout on Wednesday. The result was nothing new for the Cadets, who have now won 12 contests by six runs or more so far this season.
Grace Parks made a big impact no matter where she played. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits over five innings pitched. Parks was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
In other batting news, Macey Pugh was incredible, firing off two home runs and five RBI while going 2-for-3. That's the most home runs she has posted since back in April. Taylor Rose was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one run and one double.
Cascade was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .433. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Greencastle only posted a batting average of .125.
Decatur Central had taken Martinsville down for two straight games at home, but that winning streak came to an end on Wednesday. The Hawks fell just short of the Artesians by a score of 4-3.
Belle Asher was cooking despite her team's loss, going 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Harlow Estes, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and one double.
Cascade pushed their record up to 18-2 with the win, which was their 17th straight on the road dating back to last season. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.5 runs on average over those games. As for Decatur Central, they now have a losing record of 9-10.
Decatur Central's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Friday. Cascade has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.6 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Decatur Central, though, as they've been averaging only 2.5 strikeouts. Will Cascade keep running through batters, or will the Hawks buck the trend? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more softball content.
