Softball Preview: Ponaganset Chieftains vs. Portsmouth Patriots
Ponaganset has enjoyed the comforts of home their last three games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will face off against the Portsmouth Patriots at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. Both teams have allowed few runs on average, (Ponaganset: 2.3, Portsmouth: 3.7) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Ponaganset is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They won by a run and slipped past Westerly 9-8.
Kyla Angell was excellent, going 1-for-4 with a home run, two runs, and two RBI. Jillian Baris was another key contributor, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Portsmouth had already won eight in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7.6 runs), and they went ahead and made it nine on Saturday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Panthers a 5-0 shutout.
The result came thanks to Mary Rainey's shutout, as she gave up just four hits and racked up 11 Ks. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't pitched less than seven innings in five consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Portsmouth saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Kaelyn Mahoney, who scored a run while going 1-for-3. Another player making a difference was Barbara Rainey, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in two of her three plate appearances.
Ponaganset pushed their record up to 15-3 with that win, which was their 15th straight at home dating back to last season. As for Portsmouth, they are on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 12 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 13-4 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Sunday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Ponaganset has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Portsmouth struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.9. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Ponaganset came up short against Portsmouth in their previous matchup back in May, falling 7-3. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Rainey, who struck out six batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits (and not a single walk). Now that Ponaganset knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
