Softball Preview: North Creek Jaguars vs. Newport - Bellevue Knights
The North Creek Jaguars will head out on the road to take on the Newport - Bellevue Knights at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (North Creek has four straight wins, Newport - Bellevue has 11 straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
North Creek is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Washington's top teams: Eastlake, who was ranked 17th in their home state at the time (North Creek was ranked 25th). North Creek walked away with a 4-1 victory over Eastlake on Monday.
Reagan Fleming spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on three hits and racked up eight Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in nine consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Emma Gochenour, who went 3-for-4 with a home run.
Meanwhile, Newport - Bellevue came up short against Issaquah on Monday and fell 13-10.
Lauren Blank was cooking despite her team's loss, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-5. The team also got some help courtesy of Rebekah Kim, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
North Creek's win bumped their record up to 12-4. As for Newport - Bellevue, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-14.
Newport - Bellevue's pitching crew has a tough task ahead of them: North Creek has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9.6 hits per game. It's a different story for Newport - Bellevue, though, as they've been averaging 12.1. Given North Creek's sizable advantage in that area, Newport - Bellevue will need to find a way to close that gap.
North Creek took their victory against Newport - Bellevue in their previous meeting back in March by a conclusive 25-5. The rematch might be a little tougher for North Creek since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
