The North Forrest Eagles will challenge the Mount Olive Pirates at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. North Forrest will be looking to extend their current seven-game winning streak.
On Tuesday, North Forrest got the win against Heidelberg by a conclusive 17-2. The Eagles might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven matchups by seven runs or more this season.
Brandon Harris made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Harris was also big at the plate, scoring a run while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.
In other batting news, Lontrell Strickland was excellent, scoring three runs while going 2-for-2. Those two hits gave him a new career-high. Logan Hall was another key player, going 1-for-4 with four RBI.
North Forrest always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .655. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Mount Olive came up short against McLaurin on Friday and fell 18-13. The Pirates have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Haiden Payne was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring two runs and stealing four bases while going 2-for-4. He is becoming a predictor of Mount Olive's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 2-1 (and 0-6 when he doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Zavion Griffin, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in four of his six plate appearances.
North Forrest's victory was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-4. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.5 runs on average over those games. As for Mount Olive, their loss dropped their record down to 2-7.
Mount Olive's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: North Forrest hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .328. It's a different story for Mount Olive, though, as they've only averaged .224. Will they be able to contain North Forrest's hitters?
North Forrest suffered a grim 16-1 defeat to Mount Olive in their previous meeting back in March of 2020. Can the Eagles avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
