St. Cecilia is 8-1 against Central City since August of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The St. Cecilia Bluehawks are on the road again to play the Central City Bison.
St. Cecilia is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nebraska's top teams: Northwest, who was ranked ninth in their home state at the time (St. Cecilia was ranked third). St. Cecilia took a 12-8 hit to the loss column at the hands of Northwest on Tuesday. The Bluehawks' loss signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.
Meanwhile, Central City sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 12-11 win over Polk County on Tuesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Bison.
Payton Burbach was a major factor no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out seven batters over seven innings while giving up six earned (and two unearned) runs off eight hits. Burbach was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-5.
In other batting news, Journi Schindler and Emma Steinke did most of the damage at the plate: Schindler scored three runs and stole five bases while going 4-for-5, while Steinke went 4-for-4 with two stolen bases, four RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Emma Brandes, who scored a run and stole a base.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Central City kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 15 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now hit at least eight hits in 12 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Having lost for the first time this season, St. Cecilia fell to 3-1. As for Central City, their victory was their 14th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 2-0.
St. Cecilia came out on top in a nail-biter against Central City in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, sneaking past 4-2. Will St. Cecilia repeat their success, or does Central City have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
