The Itawamba Agricultural Indians will face off against the Hatley Tigers at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Hatley will be up against a hot Itawamba Agricultural squad: the team just extended their winning streak to five. The Indians blew past Ripley 10-4 on Friday.
Layla Owens was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out 11 batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off five hits (and only one walk). She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 18 consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with one RBI.
In other batting news, Alden Kline was excellent, going 2-for-4 with three RBI and one stolen base. Another player making a difference was Abbie Robertson, who went 3-for-4 with one RBI.
Itawamba Agricultural kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Ripley only managed five hits.
Meanwhile, Hatley had already won seven in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 3.3 runs) and they went ahead and made it eight on Friday. They never let the Rams get on the board and left with an 8-0 win. The Tigers' pitching crew has been rock solid lately; the team hasn't given up a run in their last three matchups.
Not much got past Emily Hill, who gave up just a hit and racked up nine Ks to keep Vardaman off the board.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Zoey Horne, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. That's the most runs she has posted since back in April of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Kelsey Coffey, who scored two runs while getting on base in two of her three plate appearances.
Hatley pushed their record up to 14-5 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Itawamba Agricultural, their victory bumped their record up to 20-3.
Everything went Itawamba Agricultural's way against Hatley in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, as Itawamba Agricultural made off with a 6-0 win. Do the Indians have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Tigers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.