Softball Game Preview: Fike Demons vs. Southern Wayne Saints

The Fike Demons will square off against the Southern Wayne Saints at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Fike is coming into the contest on a three-game losing streak.

Fike came into this matchup off a tough six-run defeat on Monday. This time they kept things ultra-competitive, but unfortunately the final result was the same. They fell just short of East Wake by a score of 5-3 on Tuesday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Demons have suffered against the Warriors since March 3, 2017.

Fike saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Katie Sharp, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Southern Wayne). They blew past Smithfield-Selma 16-8 on Tuesday. The Saints haven't had any issues with the Spartans recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive win against them.

Morgan Brimberry spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and seven unearned) runs on three hits and racked up ten Ks.

At the plate, Payton Strickland and Makayla Smith did most of the damage at the plate: Strickland scored two runs while getting on base in four of her six plate appearances, while Smith scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in two of her six plate appearances. Those three runs gave Smith a new career-high. Jayla Hawkins was another key player, scoring a run while getting on base in four of her six plate appearances.

Fike's defeat dropped their record down to 1-9. As for Southern Wayne, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-10.

Fike might still be hurting after the 14-4 loss they got from Southern Wayne when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can Fike avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.