With a playoff game on the line, Piedmont rose to the challenge on Friday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the North Iredell Raiders a 6-0 shutout. Considering Piedmont has won 13 matchups by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
The result came thanks to Jailyn Thomas's shutout, as she gave up just five hits and racked up eight Ks. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in nine consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Sarah Belk, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. She continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last three games she's played. Another player making a difference was Bristol Outen, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3.
On North Iredell's side, Chelsea Patton spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and five unearned) runs on seven hits.
On the hitting side, North Iredell saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Barrett Williams, who went 1-for-2 with a double.
Piedmont is on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 14 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 20-3 record this season. As for North Iredell, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 14-7.
Piedmont will look to defend their home field on Thursday against Crest at 6:30 p.m. Piedmont is on a seven-game streak of home wins, Crest a four-game streak of away wins -- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the field. North Iredell does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
