The Spalding Jaguars will square off against the Manchester Blue Devils at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
Spalding is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 20 runs on Tuesday, they were much more limited against Trinity Christian on Thursday. They lost 9-1 to the Lions.
Autumn Eady was cooking despite her team's loss, going 1-for-2 with a home run.
Even though they lost, Spalding hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now struck out at most five strikeouts in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Manchester came into Monday's matchup having lost four straight, but that streak is now in the rearview. They put the hurt on St. Anne-Pacelli with a sharp 16-1 win on Monday.
Caylin Johnson was a major factor no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Johnson was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in two of her three plate appearances.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Auriyanna Wright, who went 2-for-3 with a home run, three stolen bases, and three runs. Another player making a difference was Aprela Painter, who scored two runs and stole three bases while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances.
Having lost for the first time this season, Spalding fell to 2-1. As for Manchester, their victory ended a four-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 1-1.
Everything went Spalding's way against Manchester in their previous meeting last Thursday as Spalding made off with a 15-3 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Spalding since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
