The Sharon Tigers will take on the Hickory Hornets at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Sharon comes in on 14 and Hickory on four.
Sharon is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Fairview a 12-0 shutout. The result was nothing new for Sharon, who have now won 15 games by eight runs or more so far this season.
Madelyn Vogan was a major factor no matter where she played. She didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out 15 over five innings pitched. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 18 consecutive appearances. She was also stellar in the batter's box, going a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Marley Bundrant, who went 1-for-2 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Claire Bodien, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Hickory's rock-solid pitcher showed up for the team's third consecutive shutout on Tuesday. They walked away with a 4-0 win over Grove City.
Not much got past AJ Jarzab, who gave up just a hit and racked up 12 Ks to keep Grove City off the board.
At the plate, Hickory's victory was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Emma Johnston, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one run. Kaylie Gill was another, going a perfect 1-for-1 with two runs.
Hickory's win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-9. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.4 runs on average over those games. As for Sharon, their win bumped their record up to 18-1.
Hickory's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Sharon hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .407. It's a different story for Hickory, though, as they've only averaged .255. Will they be able to contain Sharon's hitters?
Sharon was able to grind out a solid victory over Hickory in their previous meeting two weeks ago, winning 6-3. Will the Tigers repeat their success, or do the Hornets have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
