Widefield is 2-8 against Coronado since March of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Widefield Gladiators will head out on the road to challenge the Coronado Cougars at 4:00 p.m. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Widefield will head into Thursday's game hoping to keep the good times rolling: they proved they can win big on Tuesday (they won by ten) but on Thursday they proved they can win the close ones too. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Harrison a 2-0 shutout.
James Conroy spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just zero earned runs on two hits.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Hayden Bade, who went 2-for-2 with a triple, a run, and a double. Another player making a difference was Braeden Mitton, who went 1-for-2 with a stolen base and a double.
Meanwhile, Coronado came tearing into Thursday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.7 runs) and they left with even more momentum. They put the hurt on the Terrors with a sharp 17-3 victory. Coronado's hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Trey Gregory-Alford made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 13 over four innings pitched. Gregory-Alford has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances. Gregory-Alford was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-5 with four RBI, two doubles, and a stolen base.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Alex Schumm, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 3-for-4. Turner Whitney was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 2-for-5.
Widefield now has a winning record of 7-6. As for Coronado, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-8 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Widefield has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Coronado struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.6. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Widefield might still be hurting after the 10-3 defeat they got from Coronado in their previous matchup last Saturday. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Gregory-Alford, who fired off two home runs and seven RBI while going 2-for-3. Now that Widefield knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
