The Anna-Jonesboro Wildcats will take on the Goreville Blackcats at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Anna-Jonesboro sitting on eight straight wins and Goreville on three.
Anna-Jonesboro's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. Everything went their way against Trico as they made off with a 15-0 victory. Considering the Wildcats have won 24 contests by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Ruby Yates made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out seven batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and only one walk). She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 21 consecutive appearances. She was also stellar in the batter's box, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, four RBI, and one double.
Kansas Craig
| 05/14/25 vs Trico | 1 |
| 05/09/25 vs Shawnee | 1 |
| 05/08/25 vs Massac County | 1 |
In other batting news, Kansas Craig and Jayci Needling did most of the damage at the plate: Craig got on base in all four of her plate appearances with one home run and three runs, while Needling went 1-for-3 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. Craig has been hot recently, having posted at least one home run the last three times she's played. Another player making a difference was Molly Roach, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one double, and one RBI.
Anna-Jonesboro was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .571. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .333 or higher in 13 consecutive games.
Goreville let Woodlawn stack six runs on them in the second inning on Thursday but luckily Goreville prevailed anyway. The Blackcats narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past the Cardinals 9-8.
Like Anna-Jonesboro, Goreville also got a great game from a two-way player: Lydia Kwiatkowski. On the mound, she pitched five innings while giving up just one earned run off five hits. What's more, Kwiatkowski posted three strikeouts, the most she's had over her last six matches. She was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two RBI and one run.
In other batting news, Goreville let Elisabeth Trainor and Addyson (Addy) Underwood run wild. Trainor went 3-for-5 with three RBI, two doubles, and one run, while Underwood went 2-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and two RBI. That's the most doubles Trainor has posted since back in April. The team also got some help courtesy of Emma Rogers, who went 2-for-4 with two runs.
Anna-Jonesboro's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 26-3. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.3 runs on average over those games. As for Goreville, their victory bumped their record up to 12-16.
Goreville's pitching crew better be locked in on Friday. Anna-Jonesboro hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 2.2 home runs per game. It's a different story for Goreville, though, as they've been averaging only 0 home runs. Will they be able to keep Anna-Jonesboro in the park?
Anna-Jonesboro beat Goreville 6-3 in their previous meeting back in March of 2024. Do the Wildcats have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Blackcats turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
