Softball Preview: McGuffey Highlanders vs. Brownsville Falcons
McGuffey is 8-2 against Brownsville since April of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The McGuffey Highlanders will be playing in front of their home fans against the Brownsville Falcons at 4:15 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (McGuffey has four straight victories, Brownsville has five straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Last Wednesday, McGuffey earned a 5-2 win over Seton LaSalle.
Makenna Crothers spent all nine innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on four hits and racked up 12 Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than six innings in nine consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Julia Barr, who scored a run while going 3-for-5. The team also got some help courtesy of Maura Janovich, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Brownsville fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against Keystone Oaks on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Golden Eagles by a score of 4-2. That's two games in a row now that Brownsville has lost by exactly two runs.
Brownsville also let their pitcher toss all eight innings and she was also dialed-in: Ava Clark gave up just two earned (and two unearned) runs on five hits and racked up nine Ks. Those eight innings set a new season-high mark for her.
On the hitting side, Zaydee Downer made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-4 with a home run.
McGuffey is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-3 record this season. As for Brownsville, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-9.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. McGuffey has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Brownsville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.4. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
McGuffey came out on top in a nail-biter against Brownsville when the teams last played back in April, sneaking past 1-0. Does McGuffey have another victory up their sleeve, or will Brownsville turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
