Softball Preview: Garner Trojans vs. Hoggard Vikings
The Garner Trojans will challenge the Hoggard Vikings on Friday. Garner is coming into the game hot, having won their last 11 games.
Garner is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They put the hurt on Richmond with a sharp 13-3 victory. Garner might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won 13 matches by six runs or more this season.
Lily Keefer was incredible, going 4-for-4 with a home run, four runs, and four RBI. Another player making a difference was Claire Herman, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Hoggard earned a 5-2 win over Holly Springs on Tuesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Hoggard.
Macey Ciamillo made a big impact no matter where she played. She struck out seven batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits. Ciamillo was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 3-for-4.
Ciamillo wasn't the only one making solid contact as three players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Gracie Mabrey, who scored a run while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
Garner's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 21-1. As for Hoggard, their record is now 12-7.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Garner hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like Hoggard struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.6. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Garner couldn't quite finish off Hoggard in their previous meeting back in May of 2016 and fell 3-1. Thankfully for Garner, Morgan Mathis (who struck out eight batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off eight hits (and only one walk)) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
