Softball Game Preview: Harnett Central Trojans vs. E.E. Smith Golden Bulls

For the second straight game, Harnett Central will face off against E.E. Smith. The Trojans will challenge the Golden Bulls at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Harnett Central has three straight wins, E.E. Smith has 11 straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

If Harnett Central beats E.E. Smith with 16 runs on Thursday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. The Trojans blew past the Golden Bulls 16-1 on Tuesday. The Trojans might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won nine matches by eight runs or more this season.

Brooklyn Sears made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, pitching three innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. Sears was also stellar in the batter's box, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run and three RBI. Those three RBI gave her a new career-high.

Lauren Faulkner

Hits

04/01/25 vs E.E. Smith	3
03/25/25 vs Terry Sanford	1
03/24/25 @ Cleveland	1
03/18/25 @ Pine Forest	2
03/14/25 @ Westover	2
+ 2 more games

In other batting news, Lauren Faulkner was a standout: she went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. That's the most hits she has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Haleigh Moss, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-2.

Harnett Central was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .696. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.

Harnett Central's victory was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-4. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 15.7 runs over those games. As for E.E. Smith, their loss dropped their record down to 0-8.