The Foard Tigers will face off against the Hickory Red Tornadoes at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. Given that the pair suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.
On Thursday, it was a hard-fought match, but Foard had to settle for a 5-4 defeat against North Iredell. Foard has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Braxton Tramel was huge no matter where he played even without the win. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Tramel was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in two of his five plate appearances.
In other pitching news, Carson Duckworth was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out seven batters over 4.1 innings while giving up four earned runs off three hits (and not a single walk). He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in three consecutive pitching appearances.
Tramel wasn't the only one making solid contact as seven players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Sean Jenkins, who got on base in three of his five plate appearances with a double and an RBI. Another player making a difference was Blake Powell, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a double.
Meanwhile, Hickory was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their eighth straight loss. Their tough 15-1 defeat to East Lincoln might stick with them for a while.
Foard's loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 9-3. As for Hickory, they have fallen quite a ways from their 16-7 record last season and are now at 1-8.
Foard took their victory against Hickory when the teams last played on March 13th by a conclusive 6-0. Does Foard have another victory up their sleeve, or will Hickory turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
