The Sumrall Bobcats will face off against the Brandon Bulldogs at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Sumrall comes in on eight and Brandon on 13.
If Sumrall beats Brandon with seven runs on Thursday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. Sumrall walked away with a 7-2 victory over Stringer on Thursday.
Sumrall got a great performance from Avery Smith as she didn't allow a single earned run over 5.1 innings pitched. Smith has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Ella Robertson and Kynnedy Lumpkins did most of the damage at the plate: Robertson scored three runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3, while Lumpkins went 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI. That's the most RBI Lumpkins has posted since back in February. Kara Applewhite also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen base of the season.
Meanwhile, while Brandon put up plenty of runs on Tuesday, the same can't be said for Meridian. Everything went Brandon's way against Meridian as Brandon made off with a 12-0 win. The Bulldogs might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven contests by eight runs or more this season.
Brandon got a massive performance out of Bentley Fox, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Kelsey Keeton, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-2.
Brandon was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .500. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .333 or higher in eight consecutive matches.
Brandon's victory was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 12-0. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.9 runs on average over those games. As for Sumrall, their record is now 14-3.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Sumrall hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like Brandon struggles in that department as they've been averaging 1.3 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more softball content.
