The Belleville West Maroons will venture away from home to square off against the Civic Memorial Eagles at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Belleville West is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.1 runs per game this season.
Belleville West took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Collinsville an 18-0 shutout. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Maroons considering their one-run performance the matchup before.
Kara Kramer
| 05/01/25 vs Collinsville | 7 |
| 04/29/25 @ O'Fallon | 3 |
| 04/28/25 vs Red Bud | 7 |
| 04/23/25 vs Waltonville | 6 |
| 04/09/25 vs Edwardsville | 3 |
| + 3 more games |
Kara Kramer looked comfortable as she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out seven over four innings pitched. With that strong performance, she is now averaging an impressive 5.1 strikeouts per game.
At the plate, Daijah Jackson was a standout: she went 2-for-3 with three runs, four RBI, and one triple. That triple marked the first that she has hit this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Makenna Anderson, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and three RBI.
Belleville West always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .688. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.
Meanwhile, Civic Memorial hadn't done well against Highland recently (they were 0-9 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Monday. The Eagles put the hurt on the Bulldogs with a sharp 9-0 win. The result was nothing new for the Eagles, who have now won seven games by nine runs or more so far this season.
Megan Griffith was a major factor no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out 12 over seven innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts she has posted since back in April of 2024. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 3-for-5 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Bella Thien, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Allison Friedel, who went 2-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
Civic Memorial has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 12-5 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.7 runs over those games. As for Belleville West, the win got them back to even at 9-9.
Belleville West suffered a grim 11-4 defeat to Civic Memorial in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. Can the Maroons avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
