After flying high against Sickles last Thursday, Durant came back down to earth. The Durant Cougars fell just short of the River Ridge Royal Knights by a score of 7-5 on Friday. The result was an unpleasant reminder to Durant of the 6-1 loss they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in March of 2023.
Betty Oderio was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. She looked comfortable on the mound, pitching three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Oderio has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive pitching appearances. Oderio was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, Gabrielle Langston made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and went 3-for-4 with a triple, a stolen base, and an RBI.
On River Ridge's side, Lillian Jackson spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just zero earned (and five unearned) runs on eight hits and racked up nine Ks.
On the hitting side, Olivia James was a standout: she scored two runs and stole two bases. The team also got some help courtesy of Emma Gutauskas, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Durant's defeat dropped their record down to 4-4. As for River Ridge, their victory was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 8-4.
Durant will take on Steinbrenner at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Durant's pitching crew has only allowed 3.5 runs per game this season, so Steinbrenner's hitters will have their work cut out for them. As for River Ridge, they will head out on the road to challenge Mitchell at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams have allowed few runs on average, (River Ridge: 3.1, Mitchell: 2.2) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
