The St. Helena Saints will head out on the road to challenge the Upper Lake Cougars at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (St. Helena has six straight victories, Upper Lake has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
St. Helena is hoping to deliver their fans another blowout on Friday, just like they did against Lower Lake (and have done all season long). Everything went St. Helena's way against Lower Lake on Tuesday as St. Helena made off with an 8-0 win.
Tahlia Smith was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and only one hit while striking out 15 over seven innings pitched. Smith has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than seven innings in three consecutive pitching appearances. Smith was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing three bases while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
In other batting news, Emily Glakeler was excellent, scoring a run while going 2-for-2. Olive Filippini was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Tuesday just wasn't the day for Upper Lake's offense. They lost 13-0 to Clear Lake on Tuesday. While getting shut out isn't ideal, Upper Lake has not been shut out since back in March.
St. Helena is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 16-4 record this season. As for Upper Lake, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-9.
Upper Lake's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: St. Helena hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .319. It's a different story for Upper Lake, though, as they've only averaged .195. Will they be able to contain St. Helena's hitters?
St. Helena beat Upper Lake 5-2 when the teams last played back in April. The rematch might be a little tougher for St. Helena since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
