The R-S Central Hilltoppers will head out on the road to face off against the East Burke Cavaliers at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
R-S Central barely beat Patton the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Hilltoppers' pitcher stepped up to hand the Panthers a 12-0 shutout on Tuesday. Considering the Hilltoppers have won six matchups by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Not much got past Olivia Harris, who gave up just four hits and racked up 12 Ks to keep Patton off the board. Harris has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Madelyn Hasty was a standout: she went 3-for-4 with one home run, three runs, and two RBI. That's the most runs she has posted since back in February. Another player making a difference was Alexis Nanney, who scored four runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
Hasty wasn't the only one working in the home run department: R-S Central lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. That's the most home runs they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, East Burke can bid farewell to their three-game losing streak thanks to their game on Tuesday. They blew past Newton-Conover 10-0. With that victory, the Cavaliers brought their scoring average up to 6.1 runs per game.
The result came thanks to Heaven Waycaster's shutout, as she gave up just a hit.
On the hitting side, East Burke let Raegan Carter and Kyndal Morrison run wild. Carter went 2-for-3 with one home run, five RBI, and two runs, while Morrison scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Amanda McLean, who went 2-for-3 with one home run and two RBI.
East Burke's record is now 4-10. As for R-S Central, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight games. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season.
East Burke's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: R-S Central has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10.7 hits per game. It's a different story for East Burke, though, as they've been averaging 11.4 hits. Given R-S Central's sizable advantage in that area, the Cavaliers will need to find a way to close that gap.
R-S Central beat East Burke 4-0 in their previous matchup back in April of 2017. Will the Hilltoppers repeat their success, or do the Cavaliers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
