The Mount Juliet Golden Bears will venture away from home to take on the Page Patriots at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Mount Juliet will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each matchup than the last.
Mount Juliet can't be too worried about heading out to take on Page: they just beat Overton at home, who had been dominant on their own field up to that point. The Golden Bears put the hurt on the Bobcats with a sharp 16-1 victory on Monday. The result was nothing new for the Golden Bears, who have now won 20 games by six runs or more so far this season.
Mount Juliet got a great performance from Jewel Hale as she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out eight over five innings pitched.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Anabella Brewer, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. That's the most hits she has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Annalise Mecklenberg, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one double.
Mount Juliet kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 16 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least nine hits in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Page entered their tilt with Coffee County Central on Wednesday with four consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with five. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 3-2 W against the Red Raiders.
Ashley Johnson spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned runs on four hits.
At the plate, MacKenzie Smith was a standout: she went 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Anna Johnson, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
Page pushed their record up to 20-5 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.4 runs on average over those games. As for Mount Juliet, their record is now 30-11-1.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Mount Juliet hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1.1 home runs per game. However, it's not like Page struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.8 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
