The Pine Creek Eagles will head out to challenge the Liberty Lancers at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Pine Creek has three straight victories, Liberty has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Pine Creek's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. Everything went their way against Rampart as they made off with a 17-0 win. The result was nothing new for the Eagles, who have now won 11 matchups by seven runs or more so far this season.
Abigail *Abby* Stenerson made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, pitching three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. She has been consistent: she hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.
In other batting news, Kalia Winslow was incredible, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, five RBI, and three runs. That's the most runs she has posted since back in August. Grace Kempf was another key player, going 1-for-2 with three runs, one triple, and one stolen base.
Pine Creek was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .481. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .406 or higher in three consecutive contests.
Liberty couldn't beat Air Academy on Friday even though they stacked four runs on them in the third inning. The Lancers fell just short of the Kadets by a score of 7-6.
Grace Joiner made the most of her time in the batter's box despite the final result and went 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI. Madilyn Swanson also deserves some recognition as she got her first hit of the season.
Liberty's defeat dropped their record down to 8-11. As for Pine Creek, their record now sits at 14-3.
Liberty's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Pine Creek has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 12.2 hits per game. It's a different story for Liberty, though, as they've been averaging 10.9 hits. Given Pine Creek's sizable advantage in that area, the Lancers will need to find a way to close that gap.
Pine Creek took their victory against Liberty in their previous meeting two weeks ago by a conclusive 12-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Eagles since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
