Maranatha Christian is 0-6 against Santa Fe Christian since April of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Maranatha Christian Eagles will head out on the road to face off against the Santa Fe Christian Eagles at 4:00 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Maranatha Christian took a loss when they played away from home on Thursday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They walked away with a 7-2 win over La Jolla Country Day.
Lillian Visser was a major factor no matter where she played. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. Visser has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in four consecutive pitching appearances. Visser was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-4.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Kennedy Arango, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a double. Hope Fitzherbert was another key contributor, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Santa Fe Christian put another one in the bag on Wednesday to keep their undefeated season alive. They never let La Jolla Country Day onto the board and left with a 14-0 victory. Santa Fe Christian might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won seven matchups by nine runs or more this season.
Like Maranatha Christian, Santa Fe Christian also got a great game from a two-way player: Torin Bennett. She didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 15 over six innings pitched. Bennett was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with a triple and two RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Maya Tyszkiewicz, who scored four runs and stole three bases while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Hannah Muscat, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-4.
Maranatha Christian is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a massive bump to their 4-4 record this season. As for Santa Fe Christian, their win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 11-0-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Maranatha Christian has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 11 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Santa Fe Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 11.2. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Maranatha Christian suffered a grim 11-2 defeat to Santa Fe Christian in their previous meeting back in March. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Bennett, who didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out nine over five innings pitched. Now that Maranatha Christian knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
