The Belleview Rattlers will square off against the West Port Wolf Pack at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Belleview will be looking to extend their current nine-game winning streak.
Belleview proved they can win big on Monday (they won by eight) and on Tuesday they proved they can win the close ones too. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Mount Dora 2-1.
Ya'Mari Reynolds spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered a run (which was unearned) on five hits and racked up 12 Ks. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up a single earned run in three consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Belleview's win was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Callie Pfriender, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one stolen base.
Meanwhile, West Port got the win against North Marion on Wednesday by a conclusive 9-3. Considering the Wolf Pack have won nine contests by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Alena Ishman was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out 11 batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off four hits. Those 11 strikeouts gave her a new career-high. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one run.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Cayden Thorner, who got on base in two of her four plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. That's the most runs she has posted over her last ten matchups. Another player making a difference was Rachael McCumber, who got on base in all four of her plate appearances with two runs.
Belleview pushed their record up to 15-8 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average over those games. As for West Port, their victory bumped their record up to 9-12.
Everything went Belleview's way against West Port when the teams last played back in April of 2024, as Belleview made off with a 12-2 win. Do the Rattlers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Wolf Pack turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
