Salem Hills is 8-2 against Springville since May of 2017, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Monday. The Salem Hills Skyhawks will be playing in front of their home fans against the Springville Red Devils at 3:30 p.m. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Salem Hills is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Utah's top teams: Maple Mountain, who was ranked sixth in their home state at the time (Salem Hills was ranked 18th). Salem Hills skirted past Maple Mountain 6-5.
Chase DeGraffenried was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Roper Kay, who went 1-for-3 with three RBI and a double.
Meanwhile, Springville entered their tilt with Timpview with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Thunderbirds a 10-0 shutout on Friday.
Braxton Hughes made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and only one hit over 5.1 innings pitched. Hughes was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 3-for-4.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Ashtyn Tate, who went 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBI, and a stolen base. RJ Briggs was another key contributor, scoring two runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
Salem Hills' win bumped their record up to 15-8. As for Springville, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 17-5 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Salem Hills has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Springville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went Salem Hills' way against Springville in their previous meeting back in May of 2023 as Salem Hills made off with an 11-5 victory. Will Salem Hills repeat their success, or does Springville have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
