Baseball Preview: Apex Cougars vs. Holly Springs Golden Hawks
The Apex Cougars will head out on the road to challenge the Holly Springs Golden Hawks at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Apex took a loss when they played away from home on Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Monday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Green Hope an 11-0 shutout. The high-scoring effort was just what Apex needed considering they were shutout in their previous contest.
Cranz Smelcer looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in three consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Apex got a big performance out of Drew Berenyi, who went 1-for-2 with four RBI and a double. Will Newton was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Meanwhile, in what's become a running theme this season, Holly Springs gave their fans yet another huge victory on Monday. They blew past Panther Creek 17-4. The win was familiar territory for Holly Springs who now have seven in a row.
Shane Bernhardt looked comfortable as he tossed four innings while giving up just two earned runs off two hits.
At the plate, Tyler Dowler and Andrew Waldron did most of the damage at the plate: Dowler went 2-for-3 with five RBI, a run, and a double, while Waldron scored four runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Jackson Pike, who scored a run while going 1-for-1.
Apex's record now sits at 15-7. As for Holly Springs, they pushed their record up to 15-9 with that victory, which was their fourth straight at home.
Apex might still be hurting after the 6-0 defeat they got from Holly Springs in their previous meeting on Friday. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Holly Springs' Cole Bowie, who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out seven over five innings pitched. Now that Apex knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
