The Bethesda Christian Patriots are taking a road trip to square off against the Speedway Sparkplugs at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Bethesda Christian will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each contest than the last.
On Thursday, Bethesda Christian was able to grind out a solid victory over Clinton Prairie, taking the game 8-4. The Patriots have beaten the Gophers the last three times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Gophers has come to flipping the script.
Annah Heath spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned (and two unearned) runs on three hits.
At the plate, Bethesda Christian let Avery Gibbs and Eliza Gibbs run wild. Avery went 2-for-4 with three RBI, one run, and one double, while Eliza got on base in four of her eight plate appearances with two RBI. That's the most hits Avery has posted since back in April of 2024. Alyssa Crowder also deserves some recognition as she got her first hits of the season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Speedway). Everything went their way against Herron on Friday as they made off with a 16-6 win. With that victory, the Sparkplugs brought their scoring average up to 8.5 runs per game.
Laney Jarrett made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out seven batters over six innings while giving up five earned (and one unearned) runs off three hits. Jarrett was even better at the plate, firing off three runs, three doubles, and one triple while going 4-for-5.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Mallory Short, who fired off two home runs, four runs, and four RBI while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances. Aria Graves was another key player, going 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs.
Speedway hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their strikeout total in three consecutive matchups.
Bethesda Christian picked up their first road win, bumping their record up to 3-4. As for Speedway, the victory got them back to even at 2-2.
Bethesda Christian came up short against Speedway in their previous meeting back in April of 2018, falling 5-2. Can the Patriots avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
