Softball Game Preview: Crescent Tigers vs. West-Oak Warriors

The Crescent Tigers will challenge the West-Oak Warriors at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.

West-Oak will be up against a hot Crescent team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. The Tigers came out on top against Walhalla by a score of 11-7 on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask West-Oak). Their pitcher stepped up to hand Pendleton a 15-0 shutout on Wednesday. Considering the Warriors have won nine games by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

Abi Blackwell made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with four RBI and one double. Those four RBI gave her a new career-high.

In other batting news, Brylee Whitfield was a standout: she went 2-for-4 with four RBI and one double. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in March. Teagan Whitfield was another key player, getting on base in two of her three plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.

West-Oak always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .567. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

West-Oak has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 11-4 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for Crescent, they pushed their record up to 16-6 with the win, which was their third straight on the road.

Crescent couldn't quite get it done against West-Oak when the teams last played last Monday as they fell 8-4. Can the Tigers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.