Marion and Carterville are an even 3-3 against one another since May of 2015, but likely not for long. The Marion Wildcats will head out on the road to face off against the Carterville Lions at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Marion sitting on nine straight wins and Carterville on 29.
Marion's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They came out on top against Mt. Vernon by a score of 5-0.
Meanwhile, Carterville was able to grind out a solid victory over Nashville on Thursday, taking the game 5-0.
Taryn Ford made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and only one hit while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. Ford has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in eight consecutive pitching appearances. Ford was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.
In other pitching news, Caidence Phillips looked comfortable as she tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit.
Back at the plate, Colbie Bennett and Kendall McCalla did most of the damage at the plate: Bennett scored a run while going 2-for-4, while McCalla went 1-for-3 with a triple, a run, and an RBI. Another player making a difference was Savannah Gibbs, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Marion has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 21 of their last 23 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 27-4 record this season. As for Carterville, they pushed their record up to 29-1 with that win, which was their 30th straight at home dating back to last season.
Marion was able to grind out a solid victory over Carterville when the teams last played back in May of 2023, winning 6-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for Marion 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
