The Smoky Mountain Mustangs will be playing in front of their home fans against the Pisgah Bears at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Tuesday, Smoky Mountain was able to grind out a solid win over East Henderson, taking the game 9-5. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Smoky Mountain.
Addie Mull spent all seven innings played on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three earned (and two unearned) runs on eight hits and racked up 11 Ks. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't pitched less than six innings in three consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Abby Branning was excellent, scoring a run while going 2-for-3. Kaitlyn Taquette was another key contributor, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Pisgah put the finishing touches on their fifth blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand North Henderson a 16-0 shutout. Pisgah's hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Alyssa Smith tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and only two hits over five innings pitched.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Jayden Moore, who went 4-for-4 with a home run, five RBI, and three runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Addie Foust, who scored two runs while going 3-for-4.
Smoky Mountain's victory ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 3-5. As for Pisgah, their win bumped their record up to 7-3.
Thursday's matchup will be a test for both team's pitchers. Smoky Mountain hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .319. However, it's not like Pisgah struggles in that department as they've averaged .372. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Smoky Mountain might still be hurting after the 7-1 loss they got from Pisgah in their previous matchup back in March. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Pisgah's Sadie Messer, who didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 13 over seven innings pitched. Now that Smoky Mountain knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
