The Pender Patriots will take on the Hobbton Wildcats at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Hobbton will be up against a hot Pender team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. Pender was the clear victor by a 14-4 margin over East Bladen on Thursday. The Patriots might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven matches by ten runs or more this season.
Charleigh Rivenbark was incredible, going 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and one stolen base. Eden Gurganus was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-4.
Rivenbark wasn't the only one working in the hit department: Pender kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in five consecutive games.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Hobbton, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Union on Thursday as Hobbton made off with a 20-5 victory. The win was some much needed relief for the Wildcats as it spelled an end to their three-game losing streak.
Aubree McLamb made a splash while hitting and pitching. She tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. McLamb was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, Hobbton let Graci Barefoot and Madison Sinclair run wild. Barefoot scored four runs and stole four bases while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances, while Sinclair went 1-for-4 with four RBI and two runs. That's the most RBI Sinclair has posted since back in February. The team also got some help courtesy of Rubi Reyes, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in two of her four plate appearances.
Pender's victory bumped their record up to 9-3. As for Hobbton, their win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 3-8.
Hobbton's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Pender hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .339. It's a different story for Hobbton, though, as they've only averaged .241. Will they be able to contain Pender's hitters?
Everything went Pender's way against Hobbton in their previous meeting on Monday, as Pender made off with a 15-0 victory. Will Pender repeat their success, or does Hobbton has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
