The South Stokes Sauras are on the road again on Friday to play the Cherryville Ironmen. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
South Stokes is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They walked away with a 10-6 win over Bishop McGuinness. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for South Stokes considering their one-run performance the game before.
Maddox Nelson made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out seven over five innings pitched. Nelson has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive pitching appearances. Nelson was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with a home run and two RBI.
In other batting news, Samuel Kidd was excellent, going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Another player making a difference was Levi Bailey, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-4.
Meanwhile, after only one run in their last matchup, Cherryville made sure to put some runs up on the board against Mitchell on Tuesday. Cherryville put the hurt on Mitchell with a sharp 15-0 victory. For those curious, yes, that was the biggest win Cherryville has managed all season.
The team relied heavily on Kenan Fowler, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3. Brayden Reynolds was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.
South Stokes has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a massive bump to their 8-16 record this season. As for Cherryville, they pushed their record up to 17-9 with that victory, which was their fourth straight at home.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. South Stokes has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Cherryville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.2. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
South Stokes came up short against Cherryville when the teams last played back in May of 2018, falling 6-3. Thankfully for South Stokes, Jared Emory (who struck out nine batters over four innings while giving up three earned runs off four hits) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
