Softball Preview: East Palestine Bulldogs vs. Columbiana Clippers
East Palestine is 2-8 against Columbiana since March of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The East Palestine Bulldogs will be playing at home against the Columbiana Clippers at 5:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
East Palestine is headed into the match fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They put the hurt on Leetonia with a sharp 16-2 victory on Wednesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for East Palestine.
Meanwhile, Columbiana came tearing into Wednesday's matchup with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 10 runs) and they left with even more momentum. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Tigers a 16-0 shutout. Give Columbiana's pitching crew some credit: that's the team's fourth straight shutout.
Mackenzi Gamble and Maryn Hepler made a big impact no matter where they played. On the mound, Gamble struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and only one walk). Meanwhile, Hepler pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Gamble has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive pitching appearances. At the plate, Gamble scored a run while going 3-for-5, while Hepler scored three runs and stole four bases while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances.
In other batting news, Caitlynn Pleska was incredible, scoring four runs and stealing a base while going 4-for-4. Another player making a difference was Alivia Bell, who went 3-for-3 with four RBI, a run, and a double.
The win got East Palestine back to even at 5-5. As for Columbiana, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 13 of their last 14 games, which provided a nice bump to their 16-3 record this season.
East Palestine suffered a grim 10-2 defeat to Columbiana when the teams last played back in May of 2023. Can East Palestine avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
