The Pope John Paul II Knights will look to take advantage of their home field for the first time this season as they take on the Lawson Lightning at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Pope John Paul II lost a heartbreaker the last time they played Father Ryan, but it's fair to say they got their revenge given the result of Tuesday's contest. Pope John Paul II put the hurt on Father Ryan with a sharp 8-1 victory on Tuesday. The win was familiar territory for the Knights, who have now won three matches in a row.
Clara Grace Wingo spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on three hits.
On the hitting side, Maddie Black and Lizzie Browning did most of the damage at the plate: Black scored a run while going 3-for-3, while Browning scored two runs while going 2-for-4. That's the most hits Black has posted since back in April of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Carmen Shick, who scored a run while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
They weren't the only ones working in the hit department: Pope John Paul II kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits every time they've taken the field this season.
Meanwhile, while Lawson put up plenty of runs on Tuesday, the same can't be said for Hume-Fogg. Everything went Lawson's way against Hume-Fogg as Lawson made off with a 22-0 victory. The Lightning haven't had any issues with the Blue Knights recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive win against them.
Isabella Clem was a major factor no matter where she played. On the mound, she pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Clem was also solid in the batter's box, going a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one triple, and one RBI.
In other batting news, Lawson let Makenzie Cotton and Joi Stewart run wild. Cotton scored four runs and stole Three bases. while going 3-for-3, while Stewart went a perfect 3-for-3 with three stolen bases, four runs, and four RBI. Another player making a difference was Isabella Batts, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.
Pope John Paul II pushed their record up to 3-1 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Lawson, their win (their first of the season) made their record 1-2.
Lawson's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Pope John Paul II has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10.2 hits per game. It's a different story for Lawson, though, as they've been averaging 14.7 hits. Given Pope John Paul II's sizable advantage in that area, Lawson will need to find a way to close that gap. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more softball content.
