The Portsmouth West Senators will venture away from home to square off against the Nelsonville-York Buckeyes at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty run totals in their previous games.
Portsmouth West's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. Everything went their way against Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington as they made off with a 10-0 victory. The Senators not only won on Monday, but they posted their biggest win since April 21st (when they won 17-7).
Kyleigh McCleese was excellent, going a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. Lainey Cook was another key player, going 1-for-2 with one triple, one run, and one RBI.
Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Nelsonville-York had no problem doing just that on Tuesday. They put the hurt on the Lancers with a sharp 12-2 win. The victory continues a trend for the Buckeyes in their matchups with the Lancers: they've now won six in a row.
Ava Nungester made a splash no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out nine batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits (and only one walk). She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one walk in four consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and three RBI. That's the most hits she has posted since back in March.
In other batting news, Nelsonville-York got a massive performance out of Cam Jolley, who got on base in all three of her plate appearances with two stolen bases and three runs. Those two stolen bases gave Jolley a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Emmie Fowler, who went 1-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double.
Nelsonville-York was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .381. They are a perfect 8-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Portsmouth West's record now sits at 11-13. As for Nelsonville-York, their record is now 13-7.
Portsmouth West came out on top in a nail-biter against Nelsonville-York in their previous matchup back in May of 2023, sneaking past 2-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Senators since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
