The Tinley Park Titans will head out on the road to challenge the Andrew Thunderbolts at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Tinley Park's pitching crew has only allowed 3.4 runs per game this season, so Andrew's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
On Saturday, it was a hard-fought contest, but Tinley Park had to settle for a 5-4 defeat against Mother McAuley.
Aubry Haack spent all 8.1 innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered four earned (and one unearned) runs on seven hits and racked up 12 Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in five consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Megan Piotrowski made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-5 with a stolen base, two RBI, and a double. Another player making a difference was Natalie Gomez, who scored a run while going 1-for-4.
Even though they lost, Tinley Park didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 12 strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Mother McAuley only tossed seven.
Meanwhile, Andrew had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4 runs), and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. They had just enough and edged the Mustangs out 7-6.
Andrew also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and she was also dialed-in: Clare Hester gave up five earned runs on seven hits and racked up eight Ks.
At the plate, Maddie Hanik was incredible, firing off two home runs and four RBI while going 2-for-3. Madison Vrastil was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing four bases while going 2-for-4.
Tinley Park's loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 14-6. As for Andrew, their win bumped their record up to 20-4-1.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Monday. Tinley Park 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 Andrew struggles in that department as they've been averaging 1.9. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Tinley Park might still be hurting after the 8-0 defeat they got from Andrew in their previous meeting back in May of 2023. Can Tinley Park 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
