South Decatur is 8-2 against Waldron since May of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Monday. The South Decatur Cougars will challenge the Waldron Mohawks at 10:00 a.m. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with South Decatur sitting on three straight wins and Waldron on six.
South Decatur is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They walked away with a 4-1 victory over Oldenburg Academy.
Devin Pate spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered one run (which was unearned) on six hits and racked up 13 Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in eight consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, JP Scudder was excellent, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3. Another player making a difference was Grady Scudder, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
Meanwhile, Waldron has not done well against Jac-Cen-Del recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. Waldron came out on top against Jac-Cen-Del by a score of 4-1. That's two games straight that Waldron has won by exactly three runs.
Jacob Bennett made a splash no matter where he played. He struck out 15 batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. Bennett was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
In other batting news, Troy Atwood was excellent, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 1-for-3.
South Decatur's win bumped their record up to 14-5. As for Waldron, they are on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 12 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 16-8 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. South Decatur has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 11.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Waldron struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.2. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
South Decatur was able to grind out a solid victory over Waldron when the teams last played back in April, winning 9-5. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Bennett, who struck out 11 batters over six innings while giving up three earned (and two unearned) runs off eight hits (and only one walk). Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will South Decatur still be able to contain Bennett? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
