The New Plymouth Pilgrims will challenge the Nampa Christian Trojans at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. New Plymouth is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 10.9 runs per game this season.
On Wednesday, New Plymouth came up short against Marsing and fell 10-7. The Pilgrims have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Makiah Weideman spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered four earned (and six unearned) runs on seven hits and racked up 14 Ks.
On the hitting side, New Plymouth saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Adrianna Hartzell, who went 2-for-4 with one triple and one RBI. Another was Kadence Withers, who earned three runs and one stolen base.
Meanwhile, Nampa Christian got the win against Vision on Wednesday by a conclusive 14-1. The result was nothing new for the Trojans, who have now won eight matches by seven runs or more so far this season.
Sydney Kinzler made a big impact no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run over five innings pitched. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in strikeouts (three). She was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.
In other batting news, Myranda Van Vliet was a standout: she got on base in all four of her plate appearances with three stolen bases, three runs, and two RBI. With that strong performance, she is now averaging an impressive 1.1 stolen bases per game. Chloe Shook was another key player, going 3-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI.
Nampa Christian kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 16 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in six consecutive contests.
Nampa Christian has been performing well recently as they've won ten of their last 12 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-3 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.9 runs on average over those games. As for New Plymouth, their defeat dropped their record down to 15-6.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. New Plymouth hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Nampa Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 1.1 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
New Plymouth couldn't quite finish off Nampa Christian when the teams last played on April 4th and fell 3-1. Will the Pilgrims have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more softball content.
