The Canfield Cardinals are taking a road trip to square off against the Boardman Spartans at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Thursday, it was close, but Canfield sidestepped Austintown-Fitch for a 5-4 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Cardinals.
Meanwhile, Boardman made easy work of Poland Seminary on Wednesday and carried off a 14-1 win. Considering the Spartans have won 12 contests by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Tori Strines was a major factor no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out seven batters over 4.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits (and only one walk). Strines was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
In other batting news, Alex Ward was a standout: she went 1-for-2 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in April. Jocelynn Torres was another key player, going 2-for-3 with three RBI, one triple, and one run.
Boardman always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .536. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Poland Seminary only posted an OBP of .227.
Boardman pushed their record up to 17-3 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.2 runs on average over those games. As for Canfield, their record is now 15-2-1.
Everything went Canfield's way against Boardman in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, as Canfield made off with a 6-0 victory. Will the Cardinals repeat their success, or do the Spartans have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
