The Plainfield East Bengals will face off against the Plainfield Central Wildcats at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Plainfield East is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.8 runs per game this season.
Plainfield East took a loss when they played away from home on Thursday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Saturday. Everything went their way against Yorkville Christian as they made off with a 12-2 victory. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Bengals considering their one-run performance the game before.
Plainfield East got a great performance from Maya Patel as she didn't allow a single earned run while striking out six over five innings pitched.
At the plate, Corinne Garmon was a standout: she went 2-for-3 with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. That's the most runs she has posted since back in April. The team also got some help courtesy of Avery Welsh, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs, three RBI, and one stolen base.
Plainfield East was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .400. They are a perfect 7-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Meanwhile, Plainfield Central had just enough and edged out Waubonsie Valley 2-1 on Friday.
Kaylynn Howe spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on four hits.
On the hitting side, Plainfield Central secured the win behind a pair of hitters. One of them was Ava Sommerfeld, who went 1-for-2 with one run and one double.
Plainfield East's victory bumped their record up to 16-10. As for Plainfield Central, the win got them back to even at 12-12-1.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Monday. Plainfield East hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Plainfield Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.8 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Plainfield East was able to grind out a solid victory over Plainfield Central when the teams last played back in April, winning 8-4. Will the Bengals repeat their success, or do the Wildcats have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
