Jersey is 1-9 against Highland since April of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Wednesday. The Jersey Panthers will head out on the road to face off against the Highland Bulldogs at 4:30 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Jersey took a loss when they played away from home on Thursday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Roxana and snuck past 6-4.
Ashlyn Brown made a splash no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out eight batters over seven innings while giving up four earned runs off six hits (and not a single walk). Brown has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in 19 consecutive pitching appearances. Brown was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with an RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Maleah Derrick, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 4-for-4. Another player making a difference was Caroline Ward, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Meanwhile, Highland never let their opponents score on Monday. They walked away with a 3-0 victory over Civic Memorial. The win made it back-to-back victories for Highland.
Highland saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Alex Schultz, who went 2-for-3 with a stolen base and an RBI.
Jersey has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 7-14 record this season. As for Highland, they now have a winning record of 12-11.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Wednesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Jersey has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Highland struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.3. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Jersey came up short against Highland when the teams last played back in April, falling 5-2. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Highland's Kaitlyn Wilson, who struck out six batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned runs off six hits (and not a single walk). Now that Jersey 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
