The Liberty Eagles will challenge the Astoria/VIT Rebels at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The timing is sure in Liberty's favor as the squad sits on five straight wins at home while Astoria/VIT has been banged up by four consecutive losses on the road.
Liberty's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They blew past Griggsville-Perry 15-0. The Eagles might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won ten games by seven runs or more this season.
Chandler John was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out seven over four innings pitched. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in four consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Anna Dietrich
| 05/07/25 vs Griggsville-Perry | 5 |
| 04/21/25 @ Beardstown | 4 |
| 04/17/25 vs Seymour | 2 |
| 04/12/25 vs Illini West | 2 |
| 03/25/25 vs Macomb | 2 |
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Anna Dietrich, who went 1-for-3 with one home run and five RBI. Those five RBI gave her a new career-high. Shea Ionson was another key player, going 2-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
Triopia/Meredosia-Chambersburg/Virginia hit Astoria/VIT with a eight-run second inning on Wednesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Rebels came up short against the Trojans, falling 12-2.
Astoria/VIT saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was L Hite, who went 1-for-3 with one run and one double.
Liberty is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 18-5 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Astoria/VIT, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-15.
Astoria/VIT's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Liberty has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 8.7 hits per game. It's a different story for Astoria/VIT, though, as they've been averaging 8.8 hits. Given Liberty's sizable advantage in that area, the Rebels will need to find a way to close that gap.
Liberty took their win against Astoria/VIT when the teams last played back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 9-1 score. Do the Eagles have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Rebels turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
