The Benton Rangers will head out to take on the Elverado Falcons at 12:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Having struggled with three losses in a row, Benton turned things around against Herrin on Thursday. They were the clear victors by a 13-3 margin over the Tigers.
Avery Thomas (2027) spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three earned runs on six hits.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Jaycee Webb (2027), who fired off two home runs, five runs, and two stolen bases while going 4-for-4. That's the most hits she has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Taylor Ray-McGuire (2027), who went 4-for-5 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base.
Benton always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .581. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Herrin only posted an OBP of .375.
Elverado never got on the board in their matchup on Wednesday, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Cobden on Thursday. They never let the Appleknockers get on the board and left with a 10-0 win. The Falcons haven't had any issues with the Appleknockers recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive victory against them.
Elverado's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-9. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.0 runs on average over those games. As for Benton, the win got them back to even at 14-14.
Benton beat Elverado 4-0 in their previous matchup back in May of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Rangers since the team 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
