The North Laurel Jaguars will face off against the Madison Southern Eagles at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
North Laurel took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Monday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Clay County an 8-0 shutout. The Jaguars haven't had any issues with the Tigers recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive victory against them.
Emma Carl
| 04/14/25 vs Clay County | 10 |
| 04/11/25 vs Corbin | 9 |
| 04/07/25 vs Lynn Camp | 11 |
| 03/25/25 vs Somerset | 5 |
Emma Carl made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit while striking out ten over seven innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in four consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run. That triple marked the first that she hit this season.
In other batting news, Bella Sizemore was incredible, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3. Those two stolen bases gave her a new career-high. Saige McClure was another key player, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4.
While Madison Southern didn't have the best season last year (they finished 12-17), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They blew past Harlan County 11-1 last Monday. The win was familiar territory for the Eagles, who have now won three games in a row.
Like North Laurel, Madison Southern also got a great game from a two-way player: Belle Strunk. On the mound, she pitched seven innings while giving up just one earned run off eight hits. Strunk was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with one double and one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Lexie Keener, who fired off two home runs and three RBI while going 2-for-5. Another player making a difference was Ashlyn Estep, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-5.
North Laurel pushed their record up to 13-1-1 with the victory, which was their ninth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Madison Southern, their victory bumped their record up to 8-6.
Madison Southern's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Tuesday. North Laurel has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.8 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Madison Southern, though, as they've been averaging only 3.6 strikeouts. Will North Laurel keep running through batters, or will the Eagles buck the trend?
Everything went North Laurel's way against Madison Southern when the teams last played back in May of 2024, as North Laurel made off with a 7-0 win. Will the Jaguars repeat their success, or do the Eagles have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
