The Madison Southern Eagles will challenge the Estill County Engineers at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Madison Southern knows how to get runs on the board -- the squad has finished with ten runs or more in their past three matchups -- so hopefully Estill County likes a good challenge.
While Madison Southern didn't have the best season last year (they finished 12-17), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. Everything went their way against Harlan County on Monday as they made off with an 11-1 win. The Eagles might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five contests by ten runs or more this season.
Belle Strunk
| 04/07/25 @ Harlan County | 5 |
| 03/29/25 @ Somerset | 1 |
| 03/21/25 @ Rockcastle County | 1 |
| 03/11/25 vs Franklin County | 1 |
Belle Strunk made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, pitching seven innings while giving up just one earned run off eight hits. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in strikeouts (five). She was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with one double and one RBI.
In other batting news, Lexie Keener was incredible, firing off two home runs and three RBI while going 2-for-5. That's the most home runs she has posted over her last ten games. Another player making a difference was Ashlyn Estep, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-5.
Meanwhile, Estill County fell victim to South Laurel and their airtight pitching crew on Friday. They lost 7-0 to the Cardinals. The Engineers haven't had much luck with the Cardinals recently, as the team has come up short the last three times they've met.
Estill County saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Sydney Riddell, who went 2-for-3 with one double. That double marked the first that Riddell hit this season.
Madison Southern has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches. That's provided a massive bump to their 8-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average over those games. As for Estill County, their loss dropped their record down to 8-5.
Monday's contest will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Madison Southern hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .313. However, it's not like Estill County struggles in that department as they've averaged .354. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Madison Southern couldn't quite finish off Estill County in their previous meeting back in April of 2021 and fell 3-1. Can the Eagles avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
