Softball Preview: Northside Patriots vs. Starr's Mill Panthers
Northside and Starr's Mill are an even 5-5 against one another since October of 2015, but likely not for long. The Northside Patriots will be playing in front of their home fans against the Starr's Mill Panthers at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Northside has 18 straight victories, Starr's Mill has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Northside is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Georgia's top teams: Veterans, who was ranked 13th in their home state at the time (Northside was ranked third). Northside came out on top against Veterans by a score of 7-2 on Monday.
Abby Lovell made a splash no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 15 over 6.2 innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts she has posted since back in August. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with three RBI and a double.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Laci Martinez, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was Loreal Byrd, who went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI.
Meanwhile, Starr's Mill came up short against LaGrange on Saturday and fell 9-6.
Northside pushed their record up to 21-2 with the win, which was their 16th straight at home dating back to last season. As for Starr's Mill, their loss dropped their record down to 9-11.
Northside took their victory against Starr's Mill in their previous meeting back in September by a conclusive 11-0. Does Northside have another victory up their sleeve, or will Starr's Mill turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
