The Pinecrest Patriots will take on the Gray's Creek Bears at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Pinecrest has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the match with eight straight losses, while Gray's Creek will come in with nine straight wins.
Pinecrest came up short against Richmond on Tuesday, falling 15-2.
Pinecrest saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Arianna Reddinger, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Gray's Creek's rock-solid pitcher showed up for the team's fourth consecutive shutout on Tuesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Seventy-First an 18-0 shutout. The result was nothing new for the Bears, who have now won nine games by nine runs or more so far this season.
Lizzie Johnson made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and only one walk). Johnson was also big at the plate, getting on base in all three of her plate appearances with two RBI and one double. Those two RBI gave her a new career-high.
In other batting news, August Kebort was incredible, getting on base in all three of her plate appearances with one home run, three runs, and four RBI. Those four RBI gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Amariya Green, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
Gray's Creek was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .500. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Seventy-First only posted a batting average of .083.
Gray's Creek pushed their record up to 13-1 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Pinecrest, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-11.
Thursday's contest will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Pinecrest hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .335. However, it's not like Gray's Creek struggles in that department as they've averaged .409. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Pinecrest might still be hurting after the 15-0 loss they got from Gray's Creek when the teams last played back in February. Will the Patriots have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
