The Larue County Hawks will take on the South Warren Spartans at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Larue County sitting on five straight wins and South Warren on four.
On Tuesday, Larue County was able to grind out a solid victory over Russell County, taking the game 7-2.
Isabelle Hayes spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned runs on seven hits. She has been consistent: she hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Emmaline Engle was incredible, going 1-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in April. Phoenix Bell was another key player, going 2-for-4 with one home run and one stolen base.
Ten must be South Warren's lucky number: they beat Meade County with that score not once but twice on Saturday. The Spartans didn't even let the Green Waves on the board, marking the Spartans' second-straight 10-0 shutout. Considering the Spartans have won 21 contests by more than five runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
South Warren also got a great performance from Courtney Norwood as she kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 11 over six innings pitched.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Kinleigh Russell, who went 3-for-4 with two triples, two runs, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Jenna Lindsey, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
South Warren was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .387. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Meade County only posted a batting average of .045.
Larue County pushed their record up to 24-5 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs over those games. As for South Warren, their win bumped their record up to 26-3.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Larue County has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like South Warren struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more softball content.
