The Bishop McCort Crushers will take on the Purchase Line Red Dragons at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Bishop McCort will roll into the match after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up two runs on Sunday, then bounced right back against Greater Johnstown on Monday. The Crushers put the hurt on the Trojans with a sharp 16-2 victory. The Crushers haven't had any issues with the Trojans recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive win against them.
Kalina Bailey
| 05/12/25 @ Greater Johnstown | 3 |
| 05/01/25 vs Penn Cambria | 2 |
| 04/12/25 vs Portage | 2 |
| 05/09/25 vs Chestnut Ridge | 1 |
| 05/07/25 @ Marion Center | 1 |
Kalina Bailey was a standout: she went a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs, three RBI, and one stolen base. Those three RBI gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Hannah Pfeil, who got on base in all four of her plate appearances with three stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI.
Bishop McCort always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .575. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Greater Johnstown only posted an OBP of .118.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Purchase Line, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Monday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Blacklick Valley a 10-0 shutout on Thursday. The result was nothing new for the Red Dragons, who have now won seven games by seven runs or more so far this season.
Rylee Mahaffey 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 14 over five innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in ten consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. That stolen base was her first of the season.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Brooklynn Walker, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI. Alorra Phillips was another key player, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with two stolen bases and one run.
Purchase Line's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-8. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Bishop McCort, the victory got them back to even at 10-10.
