The Glencoe Crimson Tide will challenge the Mountainside Mavericks at 5:00  p.m.  on Wednesday. The two teams have allowed few  runs on average (Glencoe 2.5, Mountainside 3.5) so any  runs scored will be well earned.
For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Glencoe and Sunset meet (five straight games heading into this one) and that held true again  on Monday. The Crimson Tide's pitcher stepped up to hand the Apollos  a   4-0 shutout.
Not much got past  Lexi Brester, who gave up just  five  hits to keep Sunset off the board. Those  hits marked the first that  Brester  allowed this season.
 On the hitting side,  the team  relied heavily on  Allison Glaze, who  scored a  run while going 2-for-3. That's the most  hits  she has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was  Irene Vandyke, who  went 3-for-4 with one  double.
Meanwhile, Mountainside came tearing into  Monday's  game with three straight wins  (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.7 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They walked away with  a   5-0  victory over the Pioneers. The Mavericks' pitching crew has been rock solid lately; the team hasn't given up a  run in their last three  contests.
 Jojo Appling was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound,   not allowing a single  earned run and  allowing only two  hits while striking out 13 over six innings pitched. With that strong performance,  she is now averaging an impressive 5.2  strikeouts per game. She was also big at the plate,  going a perfect 3-for-3 with one  RBI.
 In other pitching news,  Skylar Hins looked comfortable as she  pitched one inning while giving up   no  earned runs or  hits. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't  given up  more than two  hits in four consecutive appearances.
 Back at the plate,  Ainsley Arbow and  Aubri Kruhm did most of the damage at the plate:  Arbow  scored a  run while going 2-for-3, while  Kruhm  went 2-for-4 with two  doubles and one  RBI.
 Mountainside was getting hits left and right  and  finished the game having  posted a batting average of .406. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their  batting average total in four consecutive  matches.
 Glencoe has  been performing  well recently as they've  won five of their last six games. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-4 record  this season. The  wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Mountainside, their victory was  their fourth straight at home, which  pushed their record up to 7-5.
 Glencoe was able to grind out a solid  win over Mountainside when the teams last played  back in April of 2024, winning  8-3. Will the Crimson Tide repeat their success,  or do  the Mavericks have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.