Softball Preview: Lake Central Indians vs. Merrillville Pirates
Lake Central is 10-0 against Merrillville since May of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Wednesday. The Lake Central Indians will head out on the road to challenge the Merrillville Pirates at 4:30 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Lake Central has 26 straight wins, Merrillville has 17 straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Lake Central is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Indiana's top teams: Crown Point, who was ranked 16th in their home state at the time (Lake Central was ranked first). Lake Central sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-1 victory over Crown Point on Tuesday. Despite the win, that was the fewest runs Lake Central has scored all year.
Sofia Calderaro tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run over five innings pitched. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Kate Renschen and Lexi Iwema did most of the damage at the plate: Renschen went 2-for-4 with a triple, a stolen base, and an RBI, while Iwema went 1-for-2 with a home run.
Meanwhile, Wednesday just wasn't the day for Merrillville's offense. They lost 14-0 to La Porte on Wednesday.
Lake Central's victory was their 15th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 26-0. As for Merrillville, their loss dropped their record down to 0-16.
Lake Central took their win against Merrillville in their previous meeting back in April by a conclusive 10-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lake Central since the squad 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
