The Kaneland Knights will square off against the Huntley Red Raiders at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Kaneland took a loss when they played away from home on Monday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Wednesday. They had just enough and edged out Ottawa 4-3. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Knights have posted since April 4th.
Ellie Peck was a major factor no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out eight batters over seven innings while giving up three earned runs off eight hits. Peck was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI. That's the most RBI she has posted over her last 11 matchups.
Peck wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Addison Coulter, who went 1-for-3 with one triple and one run. That triple was Coulter's first of the season.
Meanwhile, Huntley had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.6 runs) and they went ahead and made it six on Thursday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Golden Eagles an 11-0 shutout. The result was nothing new for the Red Raiders, who have now won eight games by six runs or more so far this season.
Huntley also got a great performance from Gretchen Huber as she kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Huber has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Lana Hobday, who got on base in all three of her plate appearances with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run. Lyla Ginczycki was another key player, going 2-for-3 with two runs, one double, and one RBI.
Huntley always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .571. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Jacobs only posted an OBP of .000.
Huntley pushed their record up to 14-8 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.3 runs over those games. As for Kaneland, the win snapped their losing streak at three games and leaves them with a 11-8 record.
