The Henry County Patriots will venture away from home to challenge the Lexington Tigers at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Henry County lost a heartbreaker the last time they played Clarksville, but it's fair to say they got their revenge given the result of Tuesday's matchup. Henry County was the clear victors by a 13-5 margin over Clarksville on Tuesday.
Irelynn Beecham
| 03/18/25 @ Clarksville | 8 |
| 03/17/25 vs Stewart County | 5 |
| 03/10/25 vs Huntingdon | 7 |
| 05/21/24 vs Halls | 0 |
| 05/02/24 vs Huntingdon | 9 |
Irelynn Beecham spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered five earned runs on eight hits and racked up eight Ks. That's the most strikeouts she has posted since back in May of 2024.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Layne Latimer, who went 3-for-5 with one home run, five RBI, and two runs. That's the most runs she has posted since back in May of 2024. Another player making a difference was Reed Jackson, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-5.
Henry County hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now struck out at most four strikeouts every time they've taken the field this season.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Lexington, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Friday. Everything went their way against Huntingdon on Monday as Lexington made off with a 9-1 victory.
Lexington also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and she was also dialed-in: Lauren Johnson gave up only one earned run on seven hits. Johnson has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one walk any time she's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, Lexington let Kinley Melton and Carly Williams run wild. Melton scored two runs while going 3-for-3, while Williams scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3. Belle Powers also deserves some recognition as she scored her first run of the season.
Lexington has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games. That's provided a nice bump to their 7-2 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.4 runs on average over those games. Henry County now has a winning record of 2-1.
Lexington's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Thursday. Henry County has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Lexington, though, as they've been averaging only 1.7 strikeouts. Will Henry County keep running through batters, or will Lexington buck the trend?
Henry County took their win against Lexington when the teams last played back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 10-2. Does Henry County have another victory up their sleeve, or will Lexington turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
