The Midland Bulldogs will take on the Denison Yellow Jackets in a tournament on Saturday. Midland is coming into the game hot, having won their last ten games.
Midland proved they can win big on Thursday (they won by eight) and on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-3 win over Aubrey.
Bree Battenfelder made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out six batters over four innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (and not a single walk). The dominant performance also gave her a new career-low in walks (zero). She was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with one home run.
Battenfelder wasn't the only one making solid contact as three players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Baylie Savage, who went 1-for-3 with one home run. Another was Avrey Ochoa, who went 1-for-3 with one triple, one run, and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Denison came up short against Sachse on Friday and fell 9-5. The Yellow Jackets have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Hailey Shrum was cooking despite her team's loss, firing off two home runs and three RBI while going 2-for-2. That's the most home runs she has posted since back in March of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Addison Ciaccio, who scored two runs and stole four bases while going 2-for-3.
Denison's defeat dropped their record down to 7-5. As for Midland, their record now sits at 14-2.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Saturday. Midland hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like Denison struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.9 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Everything went Midland's way against Denison when the teams last played back in February of 2016, as Midland made off with a 10-4 victory. Does Midland have another victory up their sleeve, or will Denison turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
