The Isle of Wight Academy Chargers are on the road again on Tuesday to play the Greenbrier Christian Academy Gators at 4:30 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Thursday, it was close, but Isle of Wight Academy sidestepped Southampton Academy for a 6-5 victory.
Nora Pye spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three earned (and two unearned) runs on nine hits and racked up six Ks. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Marlee O'Donnell was excellent, going 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Sarah Powers was another key contributor, scoring a run while going 4-for-4.
Meanwhile, Greenbrier Christian Academy had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 10.6 runs), and they went ahead and made it six on Monday. They put the hurt on the Patriots with a sharp 16-0 win. Greenbrier Christian Academy might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won 11 matches by six runs or more this season.
Linda Hodge made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out nine batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and not a single walk). Hodge was also stellar in the batter's box, firing off two home runs and six RBI while going 2-for-2.
In other batting news, Cora Smith was incredible, scoring three runs while going 3-for-2. Another player making a difference was Payton Finck, who scored two runs while going 2-for-2.
Isle of Wight Academy is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 12-4 record this season. As for Greenbrier Christian Academy, they pushed their record up to 17-3 with that victory, which was their eighth straight on the road.
Isle of Wight Academy's speedy runners might be the difference in Tuesday's game. Isle of Wight Academy has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.8 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Greenbrier Christian Academy, though, as they've been averaging only 0.8. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Isle of Wight Academy continue to outrun the ball?
Isle of Wight Academy came up short against Greenbrier Christian Academy when the teams last played on April 11th, falling 5-0. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hodge, who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 14 over seven innings pitched. Now that Isle of Wight Academy knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
