The McMinnville Grizzlies will head out on the road to square off against the Sheldon Irish at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
McMinnville had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 12-run drubbing they dealt Newberg on Tuesday. The Grizzlies were the clear victors by a 13-1 margin over the Tigers. The Grizzlies might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 12 games by six runs or more this season.
The team relied heavily on Rylan Carton, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Those three RBI gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Vivian Moore, who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one run.
McMinnville was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .464. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Newberg only posted a batting average of .211.
Meanwhile, Sheldon came tearing into Friday's matchup with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.8 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They never let the Axe get on the board and left with a 10-0 win. That's two games straight that the Irish have won by exactly ten runs.
Savannah McKibben and Soraya Dorsey made a splash no matter where they played. Throwing, McKibben pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Meanwhile, Dorsey pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits. McKibben has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one hit in three consecutive appearances. At the plate, McKibben went 2-for-4 with one triple, one stolen base, and two RBI, while Dorsey went a perfect 1-for-1 with one home run.
In other batting news, Jazmin Gallegos was incredible, going a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double. That double marked the first that she has hit this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Aspen Womack, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
Sheldon's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-9. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for McMinnville, the victory was the third in a row for them, bringing their record up to 18-6.
Everything went McMinnville's way against Sheldon in their previous matchup back in March of 2022, as McMinnville made off with a 12-4 win. Do the Grizzlies have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Irish turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
