The Cottondale Hornets will head out on the road to challenge the Marianna Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Marianna is hoping to do on Monday what Bethlehem couldn't on Thursday: put an end to Cottondale's winning streak, which now stands at four games. Cottondale blew past Bethlehem 12-2. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for Cottondale considering their one-run performance the match before.
Julissa Harris was a major factor no matter where she played. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run while striking out six over six innings pitched. Harris has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances. Harris was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-4.
In other batting news, Paige Carter was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-4. Kaylee Cripes was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing three bases while getting on base in two of her four plate appearances.
Meanwhile, everything went Marianna's way against Port St. Joe on Thursday as Marianna made off with a 12-1 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for Marianna.
Like Cottondale, Marianna also got a great game from a two-way player: Kennedy Temples. She struck out ten batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off seven hits. Temples was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, Jadyn Riano was incredible, getting on base in three of her five plate appearances with a home run, four RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Addison Giles, who went 2-for-2 with a home run and three RBI.
Cottondale has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-6 record this season. As for Marianna, they pushed their record up to 13-7 with that win, which was their third straight on the road.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Cottondale has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Marianna struggles in that department as they've been averaging 10.4. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Cottondale might still be hurting after the 8-0 defeat they got from Marianna in their previous matchup back in March. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Temples, who kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 15 over seven innings pitched. Now that Cottondale knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
