Softball Preview: Burke County Bears vs. Washington County Golden Hawks
The Burke County Bears will head out to face off against the Washington County Golden Hawks at 7:05 p.m. on Monday. Burke County is no doubt hoping to put an end to a six-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Having struggled with 13 defeats in a row dating back to last season, Burke County finally turned things around against Cross Creek on Wednesday. Burke County blew past Cross Creek 11-2. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win the Bears have posted since September 28, 2023.
Paityn Oglesby was a major factor no matter where she played. She didn't allow a single hit, only one earned run while striking out 12 over five innings pitched. Oglesby was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-3. Those runs were she's first for the season.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Braylin Fare, who scored three runs and stole four bases while going 3-for-3. With that strong performance, she is now averaging an impressive 1.3 stolen bases per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Maddox Russell, who scored a run and stole three bases while going 2-for-2.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Burke County didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 12 strikeouts. That's the most strikeouts they've earned since was before the start of last season.
Meanwhile, Washington County had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 10 runs), and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They never let the Raiders onto the board and left with a 17-0 victory. The Golden Hawks might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won four matches by eight runs or more this season.
Burke County's win ended a five-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 1-5. As for Washington County, their record now sits at 5-1.
Burke County might still be hurting after the 9-1 loss they got from Washington County in their previous meeting two weeks ago. Can Burke County avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
