The Rockingham County Cougars will take on the Piedmont Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Rockingham County comes in on 21 and Piedmont on nine.
Rockingham County is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They never let Ledford get on the board and left with a 9-0 victory. Considering the Cougars have won 18 matches by more than eight runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
The result came thanks to Ava Grace Pruitt's shutout, as she gave up just a hit and racked up ten Ks. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in 13 consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Kennidy Kirby, who fired off two home runs and three RBI while going 3-for-4. That's the most home runs she has posted since back in March. Lily Strittmatter was another key player, going 1-for-2 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs.
Rockingham County was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .400. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Ledford only posted a batting average of .048.
Meanwhile, Piedmont had just enough and edged out West Rowan 3-2 on Friday. That's two games straight that the Panthers have won by just one run.
Jailyn Thomas spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered two runs (both of which were unearned) on three hits and racked up eight Ks.
On the hitting side, Piedmont's win was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Taylyn Steele, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Rockingham County's victory was their 12th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 22-1. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.4 runs on average over those games. As for Piedmont, their victory bumped their record up to 21-5.
Both Rockingham County and Piedmont just can't seem to miss. The Cougars have been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10.5 hits per game. However, it's not like Piedmont struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 3.8 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Rockingham County skirted past Piedmont 6-5 in their previous meeting back in May of 2018. Do the Cougars have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Panthers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
