Softball Game Preview: Bloom Blazing Trojan vs. Thornwood Thunderbirds

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Previous Games

05/16/24 - Home	17-2 W
05/15/24 - Away	17-0 W
05/13/24 - Home	8-2 W
05/18/23 - Home	12-0 W
05/03/23 - Away	19-2 W
+ 5 more games

Bloom has gone a perfect 10-0 against Thornwood recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Wednesday. The Blazing Trojan will look to defend their home field against the Thunderbirds at 4:30 p.m.

Bloom is probably headed into the game with a chip on their shoulder considering Homewood-Flossmoor just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Saturday. They lost 11-4 to the Vikings.

Meanwhile, Thornwood waltzed into their match on Thursday with three straight wins... but they left with four. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Falcons a 17-0 shutout. The Thunderbirds might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 17 contests by nine runs or more this season.

Milan Crain was a major factor no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out nine batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and only one walk). She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in five consecutive appearances. She was also stellar in the batter's box, firing off two home runs, three runs, and four RBI while going 2-for-2. That's the most home runs she has posted over her last ten games.

In other batting news, Thornwood got a massive performance out of Ashley Phillips, who got on base in all three of her plate appearances with four stolen bases, two runs, and one double. That's the most stolen bases Phillips has posted since back in April. Another player making a difference was Leah Jones, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and two runs.

Thornwood's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 18-6. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 21.3 runs over those games. As for Bloom, their loss dropped their record down to 16-11.

Everything went Bloom's way against Thornwood in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, as Bloom made off with a 17-2 win. Will the Blazing Trojan repeat their success, or do the Thunderbirds have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.