Northside hasn't had much luck against Bentonville recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Grizzlies will look to defend their home field against the Tigers at 5:00 p.m. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Northside is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Everything went their way against Alma on Monday as they made off with a 15-5 victory. The win was a breath of fresh air for the Grizzlies as it put an end to their eight-game losing streak.
Addison Foster was a standout: she got on base in all four of her plate appearances with one home run and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Malia Burnett, who went 3-for-4 with four RBI, one run, and one double.
Northside was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .429. The last time their batting average was this high was April 1st.
Meanwhile, Bentonville put their dominant pitcher on display in the team's fourth consecutive shutout on Monday. They never let Springdale get on the board and left with a 13-0 victory. The Tigers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 15 matches by six runs or more this season.
The result came thanks to Darby Burnett's shutout, as she gave up just four hits and racked up ten Ks. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in ten consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Anniston Reith, who fired off two home runs and three RBI while going 2-for-4. Those two home runs gave her a new career-high. Kylee Wyman was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
Bentonville pushed their record up to 19-2 with the win, which was their 26th straight at home dating back to last season. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.7 runs on average over those games. As for Northside, their win bumped their record up to 3-16.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Tuesday. Northside hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Bentonville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.8 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Northside might still be hurting after the 11-0 defeat they got from Bentonville in their previous meeting back in March. Will the Grizzlies have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other softball content.
