Softball Preview: Tonopah Muckers vs. Mineral County Serpents
Tonopah and Mineral County are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2017, but likely not for long. The Tonopah Muckers will be staying on the road on Tuesday to face off against the Mineral County Serpents at 1:00 p.m. One thing working in Tonopah's favor is that they have posted big run totals in their last six contests.
Tonopah pushed their score all the way to 17 in Saturday's second game, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 20-17 hit to the loss column at the hands of Lone Pine. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game in Saturday's first game (16), Tonopah still had to take the loss.
Savanna Muns was huge no matter where she played even without the win. On the mound, she struck out 11 batters over 4.2 innings while giving up four earned (and eight unearned) runs off seven hits. Muns was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing two bases while getting on base in two of her five plate appearances. She is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as she's now stolen at least one in the last five games she's played.
In other batting news, Liberty Deck and Gabrielle Strozzi stepped up to the plate in a big way. Deck scored four runs and stole five bases while going 5-for-5, while Strozzi scored a run and stole five bases while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Taylor Thomas, who scored two runs and stole three bases while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances.
Even though they lost, Tonopah didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 15 strikeouts. That's the most strikeouts they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Mineral County was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. Their rough 23-11 loss to Pyramid Lake might stick with them for a while. Both teams can probably skip cardio this week after making that many trips around the bases.
Jazmin Serrato made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and got on base in three of her four plate appearances with a home run, three runs, and three RBI. Amaya Reyes was another key contributor, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances.
Tonopah now has a losing record at 6-7. As for Mineral County, their record is now 2-10.
Mineral County's pitching crew has a tough task ahead of them: Tonopah has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9 hits per game. It's a different story for Mineral County, though, as they've been averaging 9.6. Given Tonopah's sizable advantage in that area, Mineral County will need to find a way to close that gap.
Tonopah took their victory against Mineral County in their previous matchup back in March by a conclusive 21-6. Does Tonopah have another victory up their sleeve, or will Mineral County turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
