The Bessemer City Yellow Jackets will head out on the road to challenge the Cherryville Ironmen at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Having struggled with five defeats in a row, Bessemer City finally turned things around against Ashbrook on Wednesday. Bessemer City's pitcher stepped up to hand Ashbrook a 15-0 shutout. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for Bessemer City considering their one-run performance the matchup before.
Ella Pursley made a splash no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out eight batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and not a single walk). Pursley was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing three bases while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Sara Duncan, who scored two runs and stole two bases. Another player making a difference was Imani Rhodes, who scored two runs while getting on base in two of her three plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Cherryville waltzed into their contest on Wednesday with six straight wins... but they left with seven. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with an 8-7 victory over the Eagles.
Cherryville got a massive performance out of Riley Bryant, who went 3-for-4 with four RBI and two doubles. Emma Proctor was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 3-for-4.
Bessemer City's record is now 3-9. As for Cherryville, their win was their tenth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-2.
Friday's match might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Bessemer City has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .492. However, it's not like Cherryville struggles in that department as they've averaged .524. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Bessemer City suffered a grim 15-1 defeat to Cherryville when the teams last played on Tuesday. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Cherryville's Krista Davis, who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out eight over 4.2 innings pitched. Now that Bessemer City knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
