Heritage is on a three-game streak of home wins, while Lenoir City is on a five-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Mountaineers will welcome the Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Heritage's pitching crew has only allowed 3.7 runs per game this season, so Lenoir City's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
While Heritage's win against Bearden wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Mountaineers had just enough and edged out the Bulldogs 7-5. The Mountaineers haven't had any issues with the Bulldogs recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive victory against them.
Elishia Byrd made a splash no matter where she played. On the mound, she tossed three innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, Portlyn Bennett was incredible, firing off two home runs and four RBI while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances. That's the most RBI she has posted over her last 13 contests. Another player making a difference was Rachel Hayes, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base, one double, and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Lenoir City beat Knoxville Catholic 13-8 on Wednesday.
Lenoir City got a massive performance out of Kylee Hanson, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base. The team also got some help courtesy of Sophie Reed, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3.
Lenoir City has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-5 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.0 runs over those games. As for Heritage, their victory bumped their record up to 16-5.
Heritage was able to grind out a solid win over Lenoir City in their previous matchup back in March, winning 6-3. Do the Mountaineers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Panthers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
