The Ayden - Grifton Chargers will take on the North Lenoir Hawks on Friday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Ayden - Grifton is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 9-2 margin over Roanoke Rapids. The win was nothing new for Ayden - Grifton as they're now sitting on three straight.
Josh Tripp and Ashton Watkins made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Tripp struck out six batters over four innings while giving up just two earned runs off three hits (and only one walk). Meanwhile, Watkins pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Tripp has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in four consecutive pitching appearances. At the plate, Tripp scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in two of his five plate appearances, while Watkins got on base in all four of his plate appearances with a stolen base, two RBI, and a double.
They weren't the only ones making solid contact as five players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Camden Wilson, who went 3-for-4 with six RBI, a run, and a double.
Meanwhile, North Lenoir put the finishing touches on their eighth blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. They put the hurt on East Duplin with a sharp 7-1 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for North Lenoir.
Like Ayden - Grifton, North Lenoir also got a great game from a two-way player: Jackson Jenkins. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 13 over 6.1 innings pitched. Jenkins was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, Garrett Byrd was incredible, going 1-for-3 with a home run and three RBI. Mason Sasser was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 3-for-3.
Ayden - Grifton is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 16-9 record this season. As for North Lenoir, they pushed their record up to 19-4 with that win, which was their sixth straight at home.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Ayden - Grifton has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.1 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like North Lenoir struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.2. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
