The Strasburg-Franklin Tigers will square off against the Dover Crimson Tornadoes at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Strasburg-Franklin sitting on five straight wins and Dover on seven.
Strasburg-Franklin is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They blew past Newcomerstown 18-3 on Wednesday. With that victory, the Tigers brought their scoring average up to 7 runs per game.
Ella Gilkerson
| 04/09/25 @ Newcomerstown | 3 |
| 04/04/25 vs Sandy Valley | 2 |
| 04/07/25 vs Newcomerstown | 1 |
| 04/02/25 @ Tuscarawas Central Catholic | 1 |
| 03/29/25 vs Garaway | 1 |
Strasburg-Franklin got a massive performance out of Ella Gilkerson, who went 3-for-5 with three runs, three doubles, and two RBI. Those three doubles gave Gilkerson a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Miley Reifenschneider, who went 2-for-5 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs.
Strasburg-Franklin lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post two or more home runs.
Meanwhile, Dover sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-2 win over Marlington on Friday.
Jenna Molk made a big impact no matter where she played. She struck out 17 batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits (and not a single walk). She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than 11 strikeouts in four consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
In other batting news, Avery Contini was excellent, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
Dover's victory was their 18th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-1. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Strasburg-Franklin, their victory bumped their record up to 5-3.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Strasburg-Franklin has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.1 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Dover struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 13.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more softball content.
