St. Helena has been on the road for two straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Saint Mary's Panthers at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Tuesday, St. Helena beat Cloverdale 5-2.
Tahlia Smith made a splash while hitting and pitching. She struck out 14 batters over six innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits (and only one walk). Smith has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't pitched less than six innings in four consecutive pitching appearances. Smith was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, Blythe Brakesman was excellent, going 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBI, and a run.
Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Saint Mary's had no problem doing just that on Tuesday. Everything went their way against the Titans as they made off with a 10-4 win. Saint Mary's might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won seven matchups by six runs or more this season.
Isabelle Koehn spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and three unearned) runs on four hits and racked up six Ks.
At the plate, Saint Mary's let London Crawford and Aoife Shen loose on the outfield. Crawford scored three runs and stole three bases while going 3-for-4, while Shen scored three runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Meilani Abraham, who got on base in all four of her plate appearances with four RBI.
St. Helena is on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 11 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 18-4 record this season. As for Saint Mary's, they pushed their record up to 8-11 with that victory, which was their fourth straight at home.
Friday's match will be a test for both team's pitchers. St. Helena hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .321. However, it's not like Saint Mary's struggles in that department as they've averaged .322. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other softball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
