Westfield is 1-6 against Mt. Vernon since May of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Shamrocks will look to defend their home field against the Marauders at 6:00 p.m. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.
Westfield is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Indiana's top teams: Roncalli, who was ranked 12th at the time (Westfield was ranked 24th). The Shamrocks fell just short of the Royals by a score of 8-7 on Thursday. The Shamrocks have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Reese Mahannah and Makayla Watson stepped up to the plate in a big way. Mahannah went 1-for-4 with one home run and three RBI, while Watson went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases and two runs. Another player making a difference was Annika Lawrence, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with three runs and one stolen base.
Meanwhile, Mt. Vernon was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat. They fell 9-5 to Pendleton Heights.
Mt. Vernon also got a good showing from Cora Rush, who tossed four innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits.
On the hitting side, Mt. Vernon saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Breanna Laffey, who went 2-for-4 with two runs. Emery Wampler was another, going 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Mt. Vernon's loss dropped their record down to 3-12. As for Westfield, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-7.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Westfield hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Mt. Vernon struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.5 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Westfield took their victory against Mt. Vernon in their previous meeting back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 10-4 score. Will the Shamrocks repeat their success, or do the Marauders have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
