Sugar Valley Rural is 0-6 against Montgomery since April of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Sugar Valley Rural Phoenix will be playing in front of their home fans against the Montgomery Red Raiders at 4:30 p.m. After both teams made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Thursday.
Sugar Valley Rural is headed into the game fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They were the clear victor by a 13-3 margin over Millville on Tuesday. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for Sugar Valley Rural considering their one-run performance the match before.
The team relied heavily on Lilly Mundrick, who scored four runs and stole five bases while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Olivia Clester, who got on base in three of her four plate appearances with four RBI.
Meanwhile, Montgomery can now show off five landslide victories after their most recent contest on Tuesday. They blew past Sullivan County 18-5. The win made it back-to-back victories for Montgomery.
Ava Hartman spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and four unearned) runs on five hits. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Montgomery let Madisyn Miller and Addi Cross loose on the outfield. Miller scored four runs and stole a base while going 3-for-5, while Cross scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-5. Another player making a difference was Falin Reynolds, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
Sugar Valley Rural's win bumped their record up to 2-6. As for Montgomery, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 6-3 record this season.
Thursday's game might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Sugar Valley Rural has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .448. However, it's not like Montgomery struggles in that department as they've averaged .445. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Sugar Valley Rural suffered a grim 11-1 defeat to Montgomery in their previous matchup back in March. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hartman, who didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over five innings pitched. Now that Sugar Valley Rural knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
