Softball Preview: Blacklick Valley Vikings vs. Ferndale Yellow Jackets
Blacklick Valley and Ferndale are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2018, but likely not for long. The Blacklick Valley Vikings will be playing at home against the Ferndale Yellow Jackets at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday. Blacklick Valley is out to stop a eight-game streak of losses at home dating back to last season.
Blacklick Valley might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 18-3 to Shade, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior.
Blacklick Valley saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Josie Nedrich, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Meanwhile, after only two runs in their last match, Ferndale made sure to put some runs up on the board against North Star last Wednesday. Everything went Ferndale's way against North Star as Ferndale made off with a 10-2 victory.
Aubrielle Leverknight made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over seven innings pitched. Leverknight has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts every time she's pitched this season. Leverknight was also stellar in the batter's box, firing off two home runs, four runs, and three RBI while going 3-for-3.
In other batting news, Baylie Moschgat was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Maisen Sechrengost, who scored a run while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.
Blacklick Valley's defeat dropped their record down to 1-8. As for Ferndale, their win bumped their record up to 2-3.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Thursday as neither team is afraid to steal. Blacklick Valley has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.3 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Ferndale struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.4. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Blacklick Valley might still be hurting after the 12-5 loss they got from Ferndale in their previous matchup back in March. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Leverknight, who struck out 12 batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned (and four unearned) runs off eight hits. Now that Blacklick 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
