The Borden Braves will face off against the Shoals Jug Rox at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Borden has three straight wins, Shoals has five straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
On Wednesday, Borden was able to grind out a solid victory over Clarksville, taking the game 10-7.
Emma Hart spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered four earned (and three unearned) runs on eight hits and racked up ten Ks.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Alayna Martin, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs, two doubles, and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Chelbi Condon, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI and one run.
They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Borden kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 17 hits. That's the most hits they've posted since back in April of 2024.
Meanwhile, Shoals scored the most runs they've had this season on Wednesday, but it wasn't enough. They lost 27-3 to North Knox.
Shoals saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Maisie Kidwell, who went 1-for-2 with two RBI. Those RBI marked the first that Kidwell has brought in this season.
Borden pushed their record up to 3-0 with the win, which was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.7 runs on average over those games. As for Shoals, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-4.
Borden took their win against Shoals in their previous matchup back in April of 2022 by a conclusive 12-1 score. Will the Braves repeat their success, or do the Jug Rox have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
