The South Oldham Dragons will head out to face off against the DuPont Manual Crimsons at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. South Oldham has given up an average of 7.5 runs per game this season, but Thursday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
On Tuesday, South Oldham didn't have quite enough to beat Oldham County and fell 11-9. The Dragons have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Grace Turner was cooking despite her team's loss, going 2-for-4 with one home run, three runs, and two RBI. That home run marked the first that she launched this season. Another player making a difference was Lucy Knabel, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI.
Meanwhile, while DuPont Manual put up plenty of runs on Tuesday, the same can't be said for Portland Christian. The Crimsons blew past the Eagles 14-0. The result was nothing new for the Crimsons, who have now won nine games by six runs or more so far this season.
Bailey Fetcher and Bella Newell did most of the damage at the plate: Fetcher went 2-for-3 with three runs, one triple, and two RBI, while Newell went 3-for-5 with three runs and one triple. Those three runs gave Newell a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Payton Russell, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-5.
DuPont Manual was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .394. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Portland Christian only posted a batting average of .190.
DuPont Manual has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 11-3 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.4 runs over those games. As for South Oldham, their loss dropped their record down to 6-9.
Thursday's contest will be a test for both teams' pitchers. South Oldham hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .322. However, it's not like DuPont Manual struggles in that department as they've averaged .364. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
South Oldham might still be hurting after the 8-0 defeat they got from DuPont Manual in their previous meeting back in April of 2022. Can the Dragons avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
