The Faith Lutheran Crusaders will be playing in front of their home fans against the Liberty Patriots at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The pair are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Faith Lutheran had to endure a seven-game losing streak, but that streak is no more. They put the hurt on Silverado with a sharp 10-1 win on Wednesday. Faith Lutheran's offense finally found a way to get into gear: the high-octane performance was a 180-degree turn from their last seven games.
Jersie McDonald made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out 16 batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits (and only one walk). McDonald has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in three consecutive pitching appearances. McDonald was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 3-for-4.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Shaylee Ghadery, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Lydia Whipple, who went 1-for-4 with a triple and an RBI.
Meanwhile, Liberty stacked a seventh blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Thursday. They never let Arbor View onto the board and left with a 6-0 victory. The win was nothing new for Liberty as they're now sitting on four straight.
Liberty also got a great performance from Charlotte Crittenden as she didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits over seven innings pitched.
At the plate, Liberty's victory was truly a team effort as three different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Yazmin Gallarzo, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI.
Faith Lutheran's win bumped their record up to 5-8. As for Liberty, their victory was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-2.
Liberty's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Friday. Faith Lutheran has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.2 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Liberty, though, as they've been averaging only 3.7. Will Faith Lutheran keep running through batters, or will Liberty buck the trend?
Faith Lutheran came up short against Liberty in their previous meeting back in April of 2023, falling 9-5. Thankfully for Faith Lutheran, Crystal Warren (who didn't allow a single earned run over seven innings pitched) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
