Softball Preview: Faith Lutheran Crusaders vs. Green Valley Gators
Faith Lutheran is 1-8 against Green Valley since May of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Faith Lutheran Crusaders will be playing at home against the Green Valley Gators at 4:00 p.m. Faith Lutheran will be strutting in after a victory while Green Valley will be coming in after a loss.
Faith Lutheran took a loss when they played away from home on Monday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Southeast Career Tech a 7-0 shutout.
The result came thanks to Jersie McDonald's shutout, as she gave up just four hits and racked up 14 Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in eight consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Ava Mariani was a standout: she went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Tevai McKenzie, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Green Valley faced Arbor View in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Wednesday. Green Valley lost 15-0 to Arbor View. The matchup marked the first time this season in which Green Valley was not able to get on the board.
Faith Lutheran's win bumped their record up to 8-12. As for Green Valley, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 10-8.
Green Valley's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Tuesday. Faith Lutheran has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Green Valley, though, as they've been averaging only 2.2. Will Faith Lutheran keep running through batters, or will Green Valley buck the trend?
Faith Lutheran couldn't quite finish off Green Valley in their previous matchup two weeks ago and fell 3-1. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Green Valley's Gracie Rasavong, who pitched seven innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. Now that Faith Lutheran 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
