The Fairfield Lions will square off against the Fayetteville-Perry Rockets at 5:00  p.m.  on Monday. Both teams are coming into the  contest red-hot, with Fairfield sitting on  four straight  wins and Fayetteville-Perry on three.
While Fairfield's  victory against Peebles wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Lions sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with  an  8-6  win over the Indians  on Tuesday.
 Rilee Quickle spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered  just two earned  (and four unearned) runs on five hits and racked up eight Ks.
 On the hitting side, Fairfield let  Carly Sanders and  Kelsie Crowder run wild. Sanders  scored three  runs and  stole a base while going 2-for-4, while  Crowder  scored two  runs while going 3-for-3.  Whitlee Morrow was another key player,  scoring a  run while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Fayetteville-Perry got the win against Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington  on Wednesday by a conclusive  7-1. That six run margin sets a new team best for the Rockets this season.
 Victoria Thompson made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she  struck out 15 batters over  seven innings while giving up just one earned run off   four  hits. Those  15  strikeouts gave  her a new career-high. She was also big at the plate,  going 2-for-4 with one  stolen base and one  RBI.
 In other batting news, Fayetteville-Perry got a  massive  performance out of  Chloe Cox, who  got on base  in all four of her plate appearances with four  RBI, one  stolen base,  and one  double. Another player making a difference was  Lilly Carlier, who  scored two  runs and  stole a base while  getting on base  in all four of her plate appearances.
 Fayetteville-Perry was getting hits left and right  and  finished the game having  posted a batting average of .435. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a  batting average of .321 or higher every time they've taken the field this season.
 Fayetteville-Perry pushed their record up to 3-2 with the  victory, which was their sixth straight  at home dating back to last season. Those  home  wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Fairfield, their victory bumped their record up to 4-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart  on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Fairfield has been retiring batters left and right this season,  having  averaged 7.2  strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Fayetteville-Perry struggles in that department as   they've been averaging 9.4  strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
 Fairfield took their  win against Fayetteville-Perry  in their previous meeting  back in April of 2024 by a conclusive  13-2 score. Will the Lions repeat their success,  or do  the Rockets have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.