The North Newton Spartans will face off against the Clay City Eels at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as North Newton comes in on ten and Clay City on six.
North Newton is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Saturday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Southwood a 7-0 shutout. Considering the Spartans have won 13 contests by more than five runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
Sydney Rainford made a big impact no matter where she played. She didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out 14 over seven innings pitched. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 22 consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with one home run, one stolen base, and one double.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Paige Culbreth, who fired off two home runs and three RBI while going 2-for-3. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in May. Riley Higgins was another key player, going 1-for-3 with one home run and two runs.
North Newton was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .385. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Southwood only posted a batting average of .095.
Meanwhile, Clay City was able to grind out a solid win over Indianapolis Lutheran on Monday, taking the game 3-0.
The result came thanks to Lizzy Sinders's shutout, as she gave up just two hits and racked up six Ks.
On the hitting side, Karlee Smith was incredible, going 2-for-3 with one home run, two RBI, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Ellie Stoelting, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
North Newton's victory bumped their record up to 23-3-1. As for Clay City, their win bumped their record up to 21-6.
