The Sumner Spartans will head out on the road to face off against the Emerald Ridge Jaguars at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Sumner will bounce into Friday's contest after beating Puyallup, who they hadn't topped in nine consecutive meetings. Sumner sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-2 victory over Puyallup on Thursday.
Riley McGee was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she pitched two innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. McGee has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in eight consecutive pitching appearances. McGee was also big at the plate, going 1-for-2 with a home run.
McGee wasn't the only one making solid contact as two players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Anna Thweatt, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Emerald Ridge had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 16.8 runs), and they went ahead and made it six on Tuesday. Everything went their way against the Spartans as they made off with a 9-2 win. Emerald Ridge might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won 11 games by seven runs or more this season.
Like Sumner, Emerald Ridge also got a great game from a two-way player: Alanna Wirtala. She looked comfortable on the mound, pitching seven innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits. Wirtala was also solid in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
In other batting news, Emerald Ridge let Taylor Orgeles and Sarah Hurley loose on the outfield. Orgeles went 1-for-4 with a home run and three RBI, while Hurley went 1-for-3 with a home run and five RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Lillian Stariha, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4.
Sumner's victory bumped their record up to 12-6. As for Emerald Ridge, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matches, which provided a nice bump to their 13-4 record this season.
Friday's matchup will be a test for both team's pitchers. Sumner hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .348. However, it's not like Emerald Ridge struggles in that department as they've averaged .442. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Sumner suffered a grim 9-2 defeat to Emerald Ridge when the teams last played on Tuesday. Can Sumner avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
