The Harnett Central Trojans will take on the Eastern Alamance Eagles on Friday. Harnett Central is coming into the match hot, having won their last 11 games.
Harnett Central is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They walked away with a 9-4 win over C.B. Aycock.
Bree Tenters spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and three unearned) runs on eight hits.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Lauren Faulkner, who fired off two home runs, three runs, and three RBI while going 2-for-3. That's the most home runs she has posted since back in March. Ella Prado was another key player, going 3-for-4 with one triple and two RBI.
Harnett Central hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. The team has now struck out at least three batters in 11 consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Eastern Alamance never let their opponents score on Tuesday. They came out on top against Currituck County by a score of 4-0. The victory was nothing new for the Eagles as they're now sitting on four straight.
Not much got past Delani Straughan, who gave up just two hits and racked up ten Ks to keep Currituck County off the board. Straughan has been consistent: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in five consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Eastern Alamance's win was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Mckenzie Blevins, who went 1-for-2 with one run and one RBI.
Harnett Central's victory was their 11th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 18-4. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Eastern Alamance, their record now sits at 18-7.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Harnett Central hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.9 home runs per game. However, it's not like Eastern Alamance struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.8 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
