The Flora Wolves will face off against the Effingham Hearts at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Flora was handed a eight-run defeat in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Tuesday. They won by a run and slipped past Edwards County 3-2. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Wolves have posted against the Lions since March 29, 2017.
Meanwhile, Effingham had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.5 runs) and they went ahead and made it five on Thursday. They didn't even let the Tornadoes on the board, marking their second-straight 20-0 shutout. Considering the Hearts have won seven contests by more than six runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Not much got past Natalie Armstrong, who gave up just five hits to keep Taylorville off the board. Armstrong has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 14 consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Effingham let Saige Althoff and Sidney Donaldson run wild. Althoff went a perfect 5-for-5 with two stolen bases, four RBI, and two runs, while Donaldson went 4-for-6 with three runs, three RBI, and one stolen base. Those five hits gave Althoff a new career-high. Maci Hayes was another key player, going a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run.
Effingham always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .633. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in five consecutive games.
Effingham's win was their seventh straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 14-6. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Flora, their win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 10-9.
