The Yorkville Foxes will venture away from home to square off against the Neuqua Valley Wildcats at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Yorkville's pitching crew has only allowed 3.4 runs per game this season, so Neuqua Valley's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Yorkville is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Illinois' top teams: Kaneland, who was ranked tenth at the time (Yorkville was ranked 11th). The Foxes blew past the Knights 10-2 on Tuesday. The Foxes' hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Yorkville got a massive performance out of Liv Lathen, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Those RBI marked the first that Lathen brought in this season. Another player making a difference was Isla Eidsness, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances.
Yorkville was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .424. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Neuqua Valley was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They took a 4-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of Wheaton-Warrenville South. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last six times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Neuqua Valley also got a good showing from Ava Drehs, who struck out seven batters over 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and not a single walk). That's the first time Drehs hasn't allowed a single earned run since back in May of 2024.
At the plate, Neuqua Valley saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ashley Pape, who went 1-for-3 with one RBI.
Neuqua Valley's loss dropped their record down to 2-4. As for Yorkville, their victory bumped their record up to 5-2.
Yorkville beat Neuqua Valley 5-0 in their previous matchup back in April of 2022. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Foxes since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
