The Glencoe Crimson Tide will challenge the Mountainside Mavericks at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Glencoe 2.5, Mountainside 3.5) so any runs scored will be well earned.
For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Glencoe and Sunset meet (five straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Monday. The Crimson Tide's pitcher stepped up to hand the Apollos a 4-0 shutout.
Not much got past Lexi Brester, who gave up just five hits to keep Sunset off the board. Those hits marked the first that Brester allowed this season.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Allison Glaze, who scored a run while going 2-for-3. That's the most hits she has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Irene Vandyke, who went 3-for-4 with one double.
Meanwhile, Mountainside came tearing into Monday's game with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.7 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They walked away with a 5-0 victory over the Pioneers. The Mavericks' pitching crew has been rock solid lately; the team hasn't given up a run in their last three contests.
Jojo Appling was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only two hits while striking out 13 over six innings pitched. With that strong performance, she is now averaging an impressive 5.2 strikeouts per game. She was also big at the plate, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one RBI.
In other pitching news, Skylar Hins looked comfortable as she pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two hits in four consecutive appearances.
Back at the plate, Ainsley Arbow and Aubri Kruhm did most of the damage at the plate: Arbow scored a run while going 2-for-3, while Kruhm went 2-for-4 with two doubles and one RBI.
Mountainside was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .406. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in four consecutive matches.
Glencoe has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-4 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Mountainside, their victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-5.
Glencoe was able to grind out a solid win over Mountainside when the teams last played back in April of 2024, winning 8-3. Will the Crimson Tide repeat their success, or do the Mavericks have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
