The Johnston Panthers will take on the Portsmouth Patriots at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Johnston will be looking to extend their current eight-game winning streak.
Johnston is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. Everything went their way against Narragansett as Johnston made off with a 10-0 win. Considering Johnston has won six matches by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Haley Boudreau was a major factor no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out seven over five innings pitched. Boudreau has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than five innings every time she's pitched this season. Boudreau was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, Johnston let Alexia Dilorenzo and Bella Boudreau loose on the outfield. Dilorenzo scored four runs and stole a base while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances, while Boudreau scored a run while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances. Arianna Velasquez was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Portsmouth faced Scituate in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Wednesday. Portsmouth walked away with an 8-4 victory over Scituate. Eight seems to be a good number for Portsmouth as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Mary Rainey spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three earned (and one unearned) runs on eight hits and racked up nine Ks.
On the hitting side, Barbara Rainey was incredible, going 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Mia Ruggieri, who went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, and a double.
Johnston pushed their record up to 13-2 with that victory, which was their sixth straight at home. As for Portsmouth, they are on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 11 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-4 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Johnston has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 13.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Portsmouth struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Johnston skirted past Portsmouth 1-0 in their previous matchup back in April. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Rainey, who struck out ten batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off five hits. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Johnston still be able to contain Rainey? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
