Belton-Honea Path has won eight straight games at home, while West-Oak has won eight straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Monday. The Bears will welcome the Warriors at 6:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Belton-Honea Path is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of South Carolina's top teams: Crescent, who was ranked 20th at the time (Belton-Honea Path was ranked seventh). The Bears put the hurt on the Tigers with a sharp 11-4 win on Friday. The Bears haven't had any issues with the Tigers recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive victory against them.
Meanwhile, with a playoff win on the line, West-Oak rose to the challenge on Friday. Everything went their way against the Mustangs as they made off with an 8-1 win.
Abi Blackwell spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on four hits. She has been consistent: she hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances.
At the plate, West-Oak's victory was truly a team effort as seven different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Anna Blackwell, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and one stolen base. That stolen base marked the first that Blackwell has snagged this season. Another was Brylee Whitfield, who got on base in three of her four plate appearances with one run.
They weren't the only ones making solid contact: West-Oak kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in six consecutive contests.
West-Oak has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 16-4 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.8 runs over those games. As for Belton-Honea Path, their victory bumped their record up to 27-3.
Belton-Honea Path came out on top in a nail-biter against West-Oak when the teams last played back in April, sneaking past 3-1. Will the Bears repeat their success, or do the Warriors have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
