The Roane County Raiders will venture away from home to face off against the Fairmont Senior Polar Bears at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. One thing working in Roane County's favor is that they have posted at least ten runs in their last five matchups.
Roane County's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They put the hurt on Webster County with a sharp 15-0 victory. Considering the Raiders have won eight games by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Payton Chandler made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, tossing three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. She has been consistent: she hasn't given up more than one walk in eight consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-2 with three RBI and one run.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Autumn Craft, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs, one triple, and one stolen base. Another player making a difference was Joplin Harlan, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, two doubles, and two RBI.
Roane County kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in eight consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, while it was Fairmont Senior who put the first runs on the board on Thursday, it was Philip Barbour who put up more. The Polar Bears lost 10-2 to the Colts. The Polar Bears haven't had much luck with the Colts recently, as the team has come up short the last eight times they've met.
Fairmont Senior saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Michaela Egidi, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one run. That stolen base was Egidi's first of the season.
Roane County is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 9-4 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.9 runs on average over those games. As for Fairmont Senior, their loss dropped their record down to 5-7-1.
Fairmont Senior's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Roane County hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .446. It's a different story for Fairmont Senior, though, as they've only averaged .258. Will they be able to contain Roane County's hitters? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
