For the second straight game, North Star will face off against Shade. The Cougars will venture away from home to challenge the Panthers at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: North Star has struggled recently with four defeats in a row, while Shade will arrive with five straight wins.
Shade hit North Star with a four-run sixth inning on Thursday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Cougars lost 11-3 to the Panthers.
For Shade's part, Payton Maddy made a splash no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out 11 batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off seven hits. Maddy has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in seven consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with three runs and one double.
In other batting news, Tori Bowers was incredible, going 2-for-4 with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. Jaedyn Krupper was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double.
Shade 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 five consecutive games.
Shade pushed their record up to 7-2 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.8 runs over those games. As for North Star, they now have a losing record of 4-5.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Monday. North Star hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.7 home runs per game. However, it's not like Shade struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.7 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
