Softball Game Preview: Cherryville Ironmen vs. Shelby Golden Lions

Cherryville is a perfect 8-0 against Shelby since April of 2015 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Tuesday. The Cherryville Ironmen will head out on the road to square off against the Shelby Golden Lions at 5:00 p.m. Cherryville will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each contest than the last.

Cherryville had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 13-run drubbing they dealt Polk County on Thursday. Everything went Cherryville's way against Polk County as Cherryville made off with a 14-1 victory. With that win, the Ironmen brought their scoring average up to 6.2 runs per game.

Raylei Gidney

Batters Struck Out

03/06/25 vs Polk County	8
03/04/25 @ Forestview	7
02/27/25 @ Chase	5
02/25/25 vs West Lincoln	2

Raylei Gidney was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out eight batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off five hits (and only one walk). With that strong performance, she is now averaging an impressive 5.5 strikeouts per game. She was also big at the plate, getting no hits from her three at bats. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in RBI (four).

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Landyn McBride, who scored two runs while going 3-for-3. That's the most hits she has posted since back in April of 2024. Alexis McSwain also deserves some recognition as she got her first hits of the season.

Cherryville was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .385. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in three consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, Shelby was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat dating back to last season. They lost 15-5 to Bessemer City.

Payton Barkley made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and scored a run and stole Two bases. while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Julianna Vaughan, who scored a run while going 2-for-2.

The victory got Cherryville back to even at 2-2. As for Shelby, their loss dropped their record down to 0-3.

Cherryville took their win against Shelby when the teams last played back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 15-5. The rematch might be a little tougher for Cherryville since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.