The Knoch Knights will head out to square off against the Highlands Golden Rams at 4:15 p.m. on Monday. Knoch will be looking to extend their current 12-game winning streak.
Knoch's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They walked away with a 4-0 victory over Indiana.
The result came thanks to Kaila Purcell's shutout, as she gave up just two hits. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances.
Grace Hensch
| 04/24/25 vs Indiana | 3 |
| 04/17/25 vs Derry | 1 |
| 04/16/25 @ Freeport | 1 |
| 04/01/25 vs Freeport | 1 |
| 03/21/25 @ Deer Lakes | 1 |
At the plate, Grace Hensch was excellent, going 1-for-3 with three RBI and one double. Those three RBI gave her a new career-high.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Highlands). Everything went their way against Valley on Friday as they made off with a 20-0 win. With that victory, the Golden Rams brought their scoring average up to 7.2 runs per game.
Madison Gorney was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. Gorney was also big at the plate, going 3-for-5 with three runs, two doubles, and two RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Gabby Chambers, who went 3-for-4 with one home run, six RBI, and three runs. Another player making a difference was Makenzie George, who went 3-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
Highlands always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .538. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Knoch's win was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 13-1. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.6 runs on average over those games. As for Highlands, they now have a winning record of 7-6.
Everything went Knoch's way against Highlands in their previous meeting two weeks ago, as Knoch made off with a 14-1 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Knights since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
