The Sandburg Eagles will square off against the Beecher Bobcats at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Friday, Sandburg needed a bit of extra time to put away Lemont. They had just enough and edged out the Lemont HS 5-4. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Eagles.
Meanwhile, while Beecher put up some runs on Thursday, the same can't be said for Clifton Central. The Bobcats put the hurt on the Comets with a sharp 10-0 victory. The Bobcats might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 16 matches by seven runs or more this season.
Not much got past Taylor Norkus, who gave up just three hits and racked up 14 Ks to keep Clifton Central off the board. Norkus has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in seven consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Ava Olson was incredible, going 3-for-4 with four RBI, one triple, and one run. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in May of 2024. Another player making a difference was Makenzie Johnson, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
Beecher was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .424. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Clifton Central only posted a batting average of .136.
Beecher pushed their record up to 23-1 with the win, which was their 26th straight on the road dating back to last season. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.2 runs on average over those games. As for Sandburg, their win bumped their record up to 8-11.
Sandburg couldn't quite get it done against Beecher in their previous meeting back in May of 2019 as they fell 12-7. Will the Eagles have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other softball content.
