The Hickory Red Tornadoes will face off against the Maiden Blue Devils at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Hickory will be looking to extend their current six-game winning streak.
On Thursday, Hickory made easy work of Statesville and carried off an 11-1 win. The Red Tornadoes might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six matches by six runs or more this season.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Maiden, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Newton-Conover on Thursday as they made off with a 10-4 victory. The high-scoring effort was just what the Blue Devils needed considering they were shut out in their previous contest.
Collin Chappel was a major factor no matter where he played. He struck out nine batters over 5.1 innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off four hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than nine strikeouts in three consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with two RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Ethan Whittaker, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with three stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI. Those three stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Zane Williams was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two doubles, one run, and one RBI.
Maiden pushed their record up to 13-8 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.7 runs on average over those games. As for Hickory, their record is now 11-7.
Hickory took their win against Maiden when the teams last played back in March by a conclusive 14-7 score. Will the Red Tornadoes repeat their success, or do the Blue Devils have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
