The Peninsula Catholic Knights will take on the Collegiate Cougars at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Peninsula Catholic is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9 runs per game this season.
Peninsula Catholic's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They put the hurt on StoneBridge with a sharp 16-0 win. The high-scoring effort was just what the Knights needed considering they were shut out in their previous game.
Quinn Freakley made a big impact no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and not a single walk). She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than two walks in nine consecutive appearances. She was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3. That's the most runs she has posted since back in March.
In other batting news, Peninsula Catholic got a big performance out of Addison Dent, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-2. Another player making a difference was Gracie Simmons, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Peninsula Catholic always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .577. They are 6-1 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.
Meanwhile, Thursday just wasn't the day for Collegiate's offense. They lost 14-0 to Christchurch School on Thursday. Having soared to a lofty 21 runs in the game before, the Cougars' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.
Collegiate dropped their record down to 1-8 with the defeat, which was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Peninsula Catholic, their victory bumped their record up to 8-4.
Collegiate's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Monday. Peninsula Catholic has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.5 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Collegiate, though, as they've been averaging only 2.1 strikeouts. Will Peninsula Catholic keep running through batters, or will the Cougars buck the trend?
Everything went Peninsula Catholic's way against Collegiate when the teams last played back in March, as Peninsula Catholic made off with a 12-2 win. Will the Knights repeat their success, or do the Cougars have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
