The Anna-Jonesboro Wildcats will challenge the Hamilton County Foxes at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Anna-Jonesboro's favor is that they have posted at least ten runs in their last seven games.
Anna-Jonesboro's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Trico with a sharp 15-0 victory. The Wildcats might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 24 matchups by six runs or more this season.
Ruby Yates made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and only one walk). She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 21 consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, four RBI, and one double.
Kansas Craig
| 05/14/25 vs Trico | 1 |
| 05/09/25 vs Shawnee | 1 |
| 05/08/25 vs Massac County | 1 |
In other batting news, Anna-Jonesboro let Kansas Craig and Jayci Needling run wild. Craig got on base in all four of her plate appearances with one home run and three runs, while Needling went 1-for-3 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. Craig is on a roll when it comes to home runs, as she's now launched at least one in each of the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Molly Roach, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one double, and one RBI.
Anna-Jonesboro was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .571. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .333 or higher in 13 consecutive games.
Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Hamilton County had no problem doing just that on Monday. They came out on top against the Mules by a score of 4-1. The win continues a trend for the Foxes in their matchups with the Mules: they've now won three in a row.
The team relied heavily on Kelsie Ashcraft, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI.
Anna-Jonesboro has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 12 of their last 13 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 26-3 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Hamilton County, they pushed their record up to 17-15 with the win, which was their third straight at home.
Hamilton County's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Tuesday. Anna-Jonesboro has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Hamilton County, though, as they've been averaging only 3.4 strikeouts. Will Anna-Jonesboro keep running through batters, or will the Foxes buck the trend?
Anna-Jonesboro beat Hamilton County 10-6 in their previous matchup back in March. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Wildcats since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
