The Mena Bearcats will face off against the Pottsville Apaches at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a five-game winning streak alive.
Mena's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Clarksville as Mena made off with a 10-0 win. The Bearcats might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matchups by ten runs or more this season.
Abi Koppein
| 03/18/25 vs Clarksville | 13 |
| 03/10/25 vs Paris | 14 |
| 03/06/25 @ Nashville | 6 |
| 03/04/25 vs Lavaca | 14 |
Abi Koppein was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 13 over five innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts any time she's pitched this season. She was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in all four of her plate appearances with three RBI.
In other batting news, Jayden Cox was excellent, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3. She also put up a double, which was her first of the season. Another player making a difference was Laynie Powell, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in two of her four plate appearances.
Mena always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .576. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Pottsville). They put the hurt on Lamar with a sharp 12-2 victory on Thursday. With that win, the Apaches brought their scoring average up to 6.3 runs per game.
Like Mena, Pottsville also got a great game from a two-way player: Savanna Mackey. Throwing, Mackey tossed four innings while giving up just two earned runs off three hits. Meanwhile, Jessica Atkins pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. The dominant performance gave her a new career-low in hits. At bat, Mackey scored three runs while going 3-for-4, while Atkins scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. That's the most runs Atkins has posted since back in April of 2024.
In other batting news, Pottsville let Madison Motley and Madison Kellar run wild. Motley went 2-for-3 with one home run and four RBI, while Kellar went 2-for-3 with one home run and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Addy Wilmoth, who scored two runs while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
Pottsville pushed their record up to 6-3 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Mena, their win bumped their record up to 5-2.
Mena couldn't quite finish off Pottsville in their previous matchup back in March of 2024 and fell 6-4. Can Mena avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
