Softball Preview: Spring Valley Timberwolves vs. Lincoln County Panthers
Spring Valley has been on the road for five straight, but on Wednesday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Lincoln County Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both teams have allowed few runs on average, (Spring Valley: 3.4, Lincoln County: 2.5) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Spring Valley is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of West Virginia's top teams: St. Albans, who was ranked eighth in their home state at the time (Spring Valley was ranked sixth). Spring Valley walked away with an 8-5 win over St. Albans on Tuesday.
Madison Pitts spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and four unearned) runs on six hits and racked up 14 Ks. Those 14 strikeouts set a new season-high mark for her.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Kate Spry, who scored two runs and stole four bases while going 2-for-3. Kennedy Davis was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Lincoln County unfortunately witnessed the end of their four-game winning streak on Tuesday. They took an 11-8 hit to the loss column at the hands of Cabell Midland.
Keirstin Ross and Rebecca Pennington stepped up to the plate in a big way. Ross scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3, while Pennington scored two runs while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Allison Ramey, who scored two runs while going 1-for-4.
Even though they lost, Lincoln County was hitting in the alleys and finished the game with three doubles. This was only their first loss (out of six games) when they post three or more doubles.
Spring Valley has been performing well recently as they've won ten of their last 12 games, which provided a nice bump to their 17-4 record this season. As for Lincoln County, their defeat dropped their record down to an identical 17-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Wednesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Spring Valley has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Lincoln County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.3. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Spring Valley might still be hurting after the 9-1 loss they got from Lincoln County in their previous matchup last Tuesday. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Lincoln County's Ryleigh Shull, who didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched. Now that Spring Valley 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
