Softball Recap: Freedom Takes a Loss

After flying high against Avery County last Thursday, Freedom came back down to earth. The Freedom Patriots came up short against the Hibriten Panthers on Tuesday, falling 23-11. The Patriots were given a dose of their own medicine in this game as the Panthers apparently hadn't forgotten their loss the last time these teams played back in April of 2024.

Rhiley Buchanan was cooking despite her team's loss, going 3-for-4 with one double and one RBI. Kaitlin Taylor also deserves some recognition as she brought in her first RBI of the season.

Even though they lost, Freedom was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .462. This was only their second loss (out of six games) when they post a batting average of .375 or better.

Freedom has traveled a rocky road recently, having lost three of their last four matches. That's put a noticeable dent in their 4-6 record this season. The win (which was Hibriten's sixth in a row) raised their record to 6-2.

Coming up, Freedom will square off against North Gaston at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Freedom is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.1 runs per game this season. As for Hibriten, they will head out to square off against West Iredell at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Hibriten also hasn't been messing around on offense: they've averaged 8.8 runs per game.