The Yuba City Honkers will head out on the road to challenge the East Nicolaus Spartans at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Yuba City 3.2, East Nicolaus 2.3) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Things were looking good for Yuba City after they put the first run on the board on Tuesday, but unfortunately for them things went downhill from there. They fell just short of Placer by a score of 4-3.
Maddison Stead put in work no matter where she played. On the mound, she tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits. Stead was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
Stead wasn't the only one making solid contact as six players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Chloe Gonzales, who went 3-for-4 with one double.
East Nicolaus never got on the board in their matchup on Friday, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Durham on Tuesday. They came out on top against the Trojans by a score of 10-6.
Like Yuba City, East Nicolaus also got a great game from a two-way player: Stevie Knight. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out ten over 6.2 innings pitched. Knight has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in eight consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBI, one run, and one double. That's the most hits she has posted since back in March.
In other batting news, Richie Farris was incredible, going a perfect 4-for-4 with one home run, two stolen bases, and three runs. Those three runs gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Gabby Sotelo, who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI.
East Nicolaus was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .419. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Durham only posted a batting average of .172.
East Nicolaus pushed their record up to 16-6 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Yuba City, their defeat dropped their record down to 17-8-1.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Wednesday. Yuba City hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.4 home runs per game. However, it's not like East Nicolaus struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.4 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
