vs
| 05/09/24 - Away | 18-0 W |
| 05/06/24 - Away | 8-4 W |
| 04/04/24 - Home | 17-3 W |
| 05/02/23 - Away | 13-2 W |
| 04/27/23 - Home | 5-4 W |
St. Helens is a perfect 5-0 against Tillamook since April of 2023 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Tuesday. The Lions will face off against the Cheesemakers at 5:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (St. Helens has four straight victories, Tillamook has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
St. Helens is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Oregon's top teams: Estacada, who was ranked 25th at the time (St. Helens was ranked 15th). The Lions beat the Rangers on Friday by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 7-1. Considering the Lions have won six games by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Eme Curaming was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over seven innings pitched. She has been consistent : she hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, Addy Ellis and Madelyn Hancock did most of the damage at the plate: Ellis went 1-for-3 with three RBI, one triple, and one run, while Hancock went 2-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Addi Andrehsen, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, after soaring to 11 runs the game before, Tillamook was a bit more limited in their contest on Saturday. They came up short against Cottage Grove, falling 11-1.
Tillamook saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Hannah Obrist, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
St. Helens' win was their 17th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-1. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.2 runs on average over those games. As for Tillamook, their loss dropped their record down to 3-7.
Tillamook's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Tuesday. St. Helens has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.6 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Tillamook, though, as they've been averaging only 2.8 strikeouts. Will St. Helens keep running through batters, or will the Cheesemakers buck the trend?
Everything went St. Helens' way against Tillamook in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, as St. Helens made off with an 18-0 win. Will the Lions repeat their success, or do the Cheesemakers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
