The Natchitoches Central Chiefs will face off against the Pineville Rebels at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Neither of those teams managed to put together many runs in their previous contests, so the offenses might be a little more motivated than usual.
Thursday just wasn't the day for Natchitoches Central's offense. They fell just short of Stanley by a score of 2-0 on Thursday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Chiefs have suffered since February 27th.
Sydney Terrell spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned runs on four hits.
At the plate, Lila Robertson made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and got on base in all three of her plate appearances with one home run. The team also got some help courtesy of Maggie Massia, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Pineville faced Jena in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Monday. The Rebels never let the Giants get on the board and left with a 1-0 win. The one-run effort marked the Rebels' lowest-scoring contest of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
The result came thanks to Addalyn Burch's shutout, as she gave up just three hits and racked up 13 Ks. She has been consistent : she hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Mallory Edwards, who went 1-for-2 with one home run.
Pineville pushed their record up to 29-5 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Natchitoches Central, their loss dropped their record down to 12-16.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Tuesday. Natchitoches Central hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.7 home runs per game. However, it's not like Pineville struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 1.2 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
