The Haddon Township Hawks will take on the West Deptford Eagles at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
While Haddon Township's win against Northern Burlington wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Hawks' pitcher stepped up to hand the Greyhounds a 2-0 shutout on Saturday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Hawks have posted since April 15th.
Not much got past Jordan Strauss, who gave up just eight hits and racked up eight Ks to keep Northern Burlington off the board. Strauss has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Haddon Township saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Abigail Lyons, who went 1-for-3 with one double and one RBI.
Meanwhile, West Deptford waltzed into their match on Friday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with an 8-6 win over the Lions.
Jordyn Ambrosius spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered four earned (and two unearned) runs on eight hits.
At the plate, Macey Harrold was excellent, going 2-for-4 with two RBI. Sadie Afflerbach was another key player, going 1-for-3 with two runs.
Haddon Township is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-5-1 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.0 runs over those games. As for West Deptford, their win bumped their record up to 6-9.
West Deptford's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Tuesday. Haddon Township has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.9 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for West Deptford, though, as they've been averaging only 4.1 strikeouts. Will Haddon Township keep running through batters, or will the Eagles buck the trend?
Haddon Township beat West Deptford 8-5 in their previous meeting back in April. Will the Hawks repeat their success, or do the Eagles have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
