Preview: Lee County Yellow Jackets vs. Cape Fear Colts
The Lee County Yellow Jackets will head out on the road to square off against the Cape Fear Colts at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Lee County is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 7.3 runs per game this season.
On Wednesday, Lee County didn't have quite enough to beat Apex and fell 3-2. It was the first time this season that Lee County let down their fans at home.
Lee County saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Walker McDuffie, who scored a run while going 2-for-4. McDuffie has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't pitched less than six innings in four consecutive pitching appearances.
Even though they lost, Lee County didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 13 strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Apex only tossed seven.
Meanwhile, Cape Fear came tearing into Wednesday's match with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 15 runs) and they left with even more momentum. They blew past the Tigers 18-1. Cape Fear might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won six matchups by eight runs or more this season.
Caden Jeffrey made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out six batters over four innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Jeffrey was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
In other batting news, Evan Bunce was a standout: he scored three runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Mason Hughes, who scored three runs and stole three bases while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
Lee County's loss ended a five-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 7-2. As for Cape Fear, they pushed their record up to 8-3 with that victory, which was their fourth straight on the road.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Lee County has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Cape Fear struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.4 per game. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Lee County was able to grind out a solid win over Cape Fear in their previous matchup on March 4th, winning 13-8. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lee County since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
