The Gibsonburg Golden Bears will head out to take on the Hopewell-Loudon Chieftains at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Gibsonburg easily dispatched Danbury on Monday, but unfortunately both the margin and the ultimate result were a different story in this one. The Golden Bears fell just short of Calvert by a score of 4-2 on Wednesday. The Golden Bears' loss signaled the end of their six-game winning streak.
Ava Amor put in work while hitting and pitching. She didn't allow a single earned run over four innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 12 consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and one RBI.
Amor wasn't the only one making solid contact as seven players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Emily Henderson, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one run.
Meanwhile, Hopewell-Loudon entered their tilt with Danbury on Wednesday with two consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with three. They blew past the Lakers 14-5. The result was nothing new for the Chieftains, who have now won nine games by six runs or more so far this season.
Like Gibsonburg, Hopewell-Loudon also got a great game from a two-way player: Araceli Velasquez. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit while striking out seven over 4.1 innings pitched. Those seven strikeouts gave Velasquez a new career-high. She was also stellar in the batter's box, firing off two home runs and six RBI while going 2-for-5.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Sidney Brickner, who got on base in four of her six plate appearances with three runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Maddie Holcomb, who went 2-for-5 with four runs and one stolen base.
Hopewell-Loudon's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-5. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.3 runs over those games. As for Gibsonburg, their defeat was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 8-1 and their overall record down to 8-5.
Gibsonburg skirted past Hopewell-Loudon 1-0 when the teams last played last Tuesday. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Golden Bears since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
