Ponce De Leon is 0-5 against Kinston since March of 2023 but things could change on Thursday. The Pirates will face off against the Bulldogs at 5:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
On Tuesday, Ponce De Leon made easy work of Vernon and carried off an 11-1 victory. The Pirates have beaten the Yellowjackets the last six times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Yellowjackets has come to flipping the script.
Kiyann Alford made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, pitching 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 13 consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one RBI.
Alford wasn't the only one making solid contact as three players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Payton Joyner, who scored a run while going 1-for-2. Another was Clara Martin, who scored two runs while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Kinston came tearing into Tuesday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14.3 runs), and they left with even more momentum. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Trojans a 15-0 shutout. That's two games straight that the Bulldogs have won by exactly 15 runs.
Kinston pushed their record up to 26-7 with the win, which was their eighth straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.6 runs on average over those games. As for Ponce De Leon, their record now sits at 7-10.
Ponce De Leon suffered a grim 13-0 defeat to Kinston when the teams last played back in March. Can the Pirates avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
