Softball Preview: Scituate Spartans vs. Portsmouth Patriots
Scituate is 4-0 against Portsmouth since May of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Wednesday. The Scituate Spartans will be playing in front of their home fans against the Portsmouth Patriots at 5:00 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Scituate comes in on three and Portsmouth on seven.
Last Wednesday, Scituate was able to grind out a solid win over Toll Gate, taking the game 4-1. That's two games straight that Scituate has won by exactly three runs.
Kate Nickerson made a big impact no matter where she played. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out 14 over seven innings pitched. Nickerson has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in eight consecutive pitching appearances. Nickerson was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing four bases while going 2-for-3.
Nickerson wasn't the only one making solid contact as two players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Victoria Geisser, who went 1-for-4 with a stolen base.
Meanwhile, Portsmouth faced West Warwick in a battle between two of the state's top teams last Tuesday. Portsmouth walked away with an 8-5 victory over West Warwick.
Mary Rainey spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered five earned runs on eight hits and racked up nine Ks.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Barbara Rainey, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI and a double. Another player making a difference was Mia Ruggieri, who went 1-for-3 with a home run.
Scituate pushed their record up to 10-4 with that win, which was their fourth straight on the road. As for Portsmouth, they are on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten matches, which provided a nice bump to their 11-4 record this season.
Everything went Scituate's way against Portsmouth in their previous meeting back in April as Scituate made off with an 18-0 victory. Does Scituate have another victory up their sleeve, or will Portsmouth turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
