Cherry Hill West hasn't had much luck against Eastern recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Lions will head out to face off against the Vikings. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Cherry Hill West has three straight victories, Eastern has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Cherry Hill West barely beat Camden Catholic the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Lions were the clear victors by a 15-1 margin over the Fighting Irish on Wednesday. The Lions might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six contests by ten runs or more this season.
Ella Davis tossed a big game, striking out 13 batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. Those 13 strikeouts gave her a new career-high.
Olivia Croge
| 05/07/25 vs Camden Catholic | 5 |
| 04/26/25 vs Cherry Hill East | 4 |
| 04/02/25 vs Winslow Township | 3 |
| 05/08/24 @ Paul VI | 3 |
| 05/02/25 vs West Deptford | 2 |
At the plate, Olivia Croge was incredible, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, five RBI, and two runs. Those five RBI gave her a new career-high. Emily Garbe was another key player, going 3-for-5 with three runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
Cherry Hill West kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 19 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 5.3 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 games they've averaged 9.2.
For some reason, the away team has come away with the win the last four times Eastern and Cherry Hill East have met, but the home crowd finally got their W on Wednesday. The Vikings lost 14-2 to the Cougars.
Cherry Hill West pushed their record up to 11-7 with the win, which was their third straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Eastern, their loss dropped their record down to 4-10.
Cherry Hill West skirted past Eastern 3-2 in their previous meeting back in April. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Lions since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
