The Gilmour Academy Lancers will face off against the Boardman Spartans at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Gilmour Academy came out on top against North on Tuesday thanks in part to the team's impressive five-run second inning. The Lancers blew past the Rangers 9-2. The Lancers haven't had any issues with the Rangers recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.
Camden Dreiling spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three earned runs on six hits and racked up six Ks.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Ava Gundling, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, two stolen bases, and three runs. Another player making a difference was Hailey Gray, who went 3-for-4 with one home run and three RBI.
Gilmour Academy was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .429. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as North only posted a batting average of .222.
Meanwhile, Boardman faced Walsh Jesuit in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Wednesday. The Spartans' pitcher stepped up to hand the Warriors a 7-0 shutout.
Not much got past Gabi Sferra, who gave up just three hits to keep Walsh Jesuit off the board. Sferra has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in nine consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Kenzie Cherne was excellent, getting on base in all three of her plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Mikayla Rivera, who got on base in three of her four plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
Boardman has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 16-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.5 runs over those games. As for Gilmour Academy, their win bumped their record up to 8-2.
