The Ponchatoula Green Wave will venture away from home to take on the Mandeville Skippers at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Ponchatoula is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.7 runs per game this season.
Ponchatoula is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 23 runs on Tuesday, they were much more limited against Kaplan on Wednesday. They came up short against the Pirates, falling 9-1. The Green Wave's defeat signaled the end of their five-game winning streak.
Ponchatoula saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Faye Boihem, who went 1-for-3 with one double.
Meanwhile, Mandeville posted their closest win since March 11th on Tuesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 6-5 victory over Covington.
Mandeville also got a great performance from Mia Baham as she struck out six batters over 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off two hits. Baham has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Mia Graefenstein was excellent, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 3-for-4. Grace Richard also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen base of the season.
Ponchatoula's loss dropped their record down to 13-10. As for Mandeville, their win bumped their record up to 12-4.
Thursday's match might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Ponchatoula has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .467. However, it's not like Mandeville struggles in that department as they've averaged .431. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Ponchatoula came out on top in a nail-biter against Mandeville in their previous meeting last Tuesday, sneaking past 6-5. The rematch might be a little tougher for Ponchatoula 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
