Horizon Christian will face off against the Indianapolis Shortridge Blue Devils at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Horizon Christian has eight straight victories, Indianapolis Shortridge has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
While Horizon Christian didn't have the best season last year (they finished 2-6), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. Everything went their way against Liberty Christian on Tuesday as they made off with an 11-1 win. Horizon Christian might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven games by six runs or more this season.
Lucy Long made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out 12 over six innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than one walk in six consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 4-for-5 with two runs and one RBI.
In other batting news, Abby Brown was incredible, going 3-for-4 with four RBI, one triple, and one run. Another player making a difference was Cayden Marshall, who went 1-for-4 with three runs and one RBI.
Purdue Polytechnic hit Indianapolis Shortridge with a ten-run sixth inning on Tuesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Blue Devils lost 21-5 to the Techies.
Indianapolis Shortridge saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Aries Smith, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one double. That hit was Smith's first of the season. Jaeda Scott was another, going 1-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
Horizon Christian's victory was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 8-0. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 19.7 runs over those games. As for Indianapolis Shortridge, they now have a losing record of 2-3.
Indianapolis Shortridge's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Horizon Christian hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .422. It's a different story for Indianapolis Shortridge, though, as they've only averaged .247. Will they be able to contain Horizon Christian's hitters?
Everything went Horizon Christian's way against Indianapolis Shortridge in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, as Horizon Christian made off with a 19-9 victory. Does Horizon Christian have another victory up their sleeve, or will Indianapolis Shortridge turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
