The Valmeyer Pirates will head out on the road to square off against the New Athens Yellow Jackets at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Valmeyer has five straight victories, New Athens has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Valmeyer proved they can win big on Friday (they won by 15) but on Saturday they proved they can win the close ones too. They skirted past Christ Our Rock Lutheran 5-3.
Valmeyer saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brooke Miller, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Miller has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive pitching appearances.
Meanwhile, New Athens fell victim to Okawville and their airtight pitching crew on Monday. They wound up on the wrong side of a rough 21-0 walloping at the hands of the Rockets.
Valmeyer's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 6-3. Those good results were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.0 runs per game. As for New Athens, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-14.
New Athens' pitching crew has a tough task ahead of them: Valmeyer has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 11.4 hits per game. It's a different story for New Athens, though, as they've been averaging 10.8. Given Valmeyer's sizable advantage in that area, New Athens will need to find a way to close that gap.
Valmeyer beat New Athens 9-5 in their previous matchup two weeks ago. The rematch might be a little tougher for Valmeyer since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
