The Swansboro Pirates will look to defend their home field on Friday against the Croatan Cougars at 7:00 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Swansboro: 3.4, Croatan: 3.2) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Croatan is hoping to do on Friday what Richlands couldn't on Tuesday: put an end to Swansboro's winning streak, which now stands at three games. Swansboro came out on top in a nail-biter against Richlands and snuck past 4-2.
Patrick Hollifield was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off one hit. Hollifield has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive pitching appearances. Hollifield was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Joshua Scott, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-4. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now stolen at least one in the last seven games he's played.
Meanwhile, Croatan unfortunately witnessed the end of their 12-game winning streak on Wednesday. They lost 10-0 to Greene Central. The contest marked the first time this season in which Croatan was not able to get on the board.
Swansboro has been performing well recently as they've won ten of their last 12 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 11-6 record this season. As for Croatan, their loss ended a six-game streak of away wins and brought them to 16-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Swansboro has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Croatan struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Swansboro came up short against Croatan in their previous matchup two weeks ago, falling 3-0. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Croatan's Broderyk Miller, who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 11 over 6.2 innings pitched. Now that Swansboro knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
