The Seton Catholic Sentinels will venture away from home to challenge the Coolidge Bears at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Seton Catholic's pitching crew has only allowed 2.9 runs per game this season, so Coolidge's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Seton Catholic is probably headed into the game with a chip on their shoulder considering Northwest Christian just ended the team's seven-game winning streak on Wednesday. They fell just short of the Crusaders by a score of 6-4.
Brooke Zuluaga was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. She struck out ten batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned (and five unearned) runs off seven hits (and only one walk). She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than one walk in ten consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with two runs and one triple.
In other batting news, Scarlett Olivares was cooking despite her team's loss, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with one triple and one RBI. That triple marked the first that she hit this season.
Meanwhile, Coolidge had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 18.5 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They blew past the Gophers 6-0. The Bears might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six matches by six runs or more this season.
Like Seton Catholic, Coolidge also got a great game from a two-way player: Autumn Hoover. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out nine over seven innings pitched. Hoover was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Aubriana Cavazos, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Genesis Payne, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4.
Coolidge kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least ten hits in four consecutive contests.
Coolidge pushed their record up to 6-4 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Seton Catholic, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-2-2.
