Ellington has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will square off against the Masuk Panthers on Saturday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Ellington is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Connecticut's top teams: St. Joseph, who was ranked fourth in their home state at the time (Ellington was ranked ninth). Ellington's pitcher stepped up to hand St. Joseph a 3-0 shutout on Tuesday. Give Ellington's pitching crew some credit: that's the team's fifth straight shutout.
The result came thanks to Camryn Fisher's shutout, as she gave up just three hits and racked up 12 Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than nine strikeouts every time she's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Keyleigh Flaherty, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Masuk had already proven themselves in the regular season and they didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Guilford on Tuesday and snuck past 4-2. Masuk's win was nothing new given the team hasn't lost yet this season.
Julia Bacoulis spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned runs on five hits and racked up 12 Ks.
At the plate, Natalie Lieto was excellent, scoring a run while going 2-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Ciena Perpetuo, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
Ellington pushed their record up to 24-2 with that victory, which was their 12th straight at home. As for Masuk, their win bumped their record up to 27-0.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Saturday. Ellington hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Masuk struggles in that department as they've been averaging 1.5. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Ellington suffered a grim 7-0 defeat to Masuk in their previous meeting back in June of 2023. Can Ellington avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
