Softball Game Preview: Long Rebels vs. Carroll Eagles

The Long Rebels will head out on the road to face off against the Carroll Eagles at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Long will be looking to extend their current eight-game winning streak.

For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Long and Ariton meet (three straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Tuesday. Long walked away with a 6-3 victory over Ariton.

Anna Claire Free was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out 13 batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off six hits (and only one walk). Those 13 strikeouts gave her a new career-high. She was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing Two bases. while going 2-for-3. She has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times she's played.

Kaylie Foster

Hits (Career)

03/18/25 @ Ariton	3
03/17/25 @ Abbeville	2
03/10/25 vs Houston County	2
03/04/25 vs Slocomb	2
02/25/25 @ Pike Liberal Arts	2

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Kaylie Foster, who went 3-for-4 with one home run. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in hits. H Hughes was another key player, scoring two runs while going 4-for-4.

Long was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .424. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .424 or higher in three consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, Carroll gave up the first runs last Monday, but they didn't let that get them down. They put the hurt on Samson with a sharp 14-4 win. Considering the Eagles have won five contests by more than eight runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.

Long pushed their record up to 15-2 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.3 runs over those games. As for Carroll, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 9-6-1.

Long couldn't quite finish off Carroll when the teams last played back in February of 2024 and fell 7-5. Can Long avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.