Oak Forest is 0-4 against Beecher since April of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Oak Forest Bengals will be staying on the road to face off against the Beecher Bobcats at 4:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Oak Forest's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. They put the hurt on Thornton Fractional South with a sharp 16-0 win.
Meanwhile, Beecher came tearing into Tuesday's game with 13 straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.8 runs) and they left with even more momentum. They blew past the Crusaders 11-0. Give Beecher's pitching crew some credit: that's the team's third straight shutout.
Taylor Norkus was a major factor no matter where she played. On the mound, she kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. Norkus has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in 11 consecutive pitching appearances. Norkus was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Makenzie Johnson, who fired off two home runs, three runs, and a double while going 3-for-3. Abby Papas was another key contributor, going 1-for-3 with a home run and four RBI.
Oak Forest has been performing well recently as they've won 15 of their last 18 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 21-6 record this season. As for Beecher, their victory was their 17th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 25-1.
Oak Forest might still be hurting after the 7-1 defeat they got from Beecher when the teams last played back in May of 2023. Can Oak Forest avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
