Softball Preview: Pace Patriots vs. Bartow Yellow Jackets
The Pace Patriots will challenge the Bartow Yellow Jackets at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Pace sitting on six straight victories and Bartow on 11.
Pace is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Bloomingdale a 1-0 shutout. Pace's pitching crew has been rock solid lately; the team hasn't given up a run in their last three matchups.
The result came thanks to Jayden Heavener's shutout, as she gave up just two hits and racked up 15 Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in 26 consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Pace saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Mallory Baker, who went 1-for-3 with a triple and a run.
Meanwhile, Bartow and Doral Academy (ranked eighth and tenth in the MaxPreps national rankings respectively) squared off in a high-profile match on Thursday. Bartow narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Doral Academy 7-6. That's two games straight that Bartow has won by just one run.
Pace has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 19 of their last 20 games, which provided a nice bump to their 27-2 record this season. As for Bartow, they pushed their record up to 30-1 with that victory, which was their 23rd straight at home dating back to last season.
Pace came up short against Bartow when the teams last played back in May of 2023, falling 5-1. Can Pace avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
