Alexandria is on a seven-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while St. Clair County is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Alexandria Valley Cubs will host the St. Clair County Fighting Saints at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. The two teams are strolling into their matches after big wins in their previous games.
Alexandria's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They were the clear victor by a 7-0 margin over Collinsville. That's two games straight that the Valley Cubs have won by exactly seven runs.
The team relied heavily on Kaden Pritchett, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI. She also hit a double, marking her first of the season. Brenlee Sparks was another key player, going 1-for-2 with one double and one RBI.
While St. Clair County didn't have the best season last year (they finished 11-22-1), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They put the hurt on Pisgah with a sharp 10-4 victory on Friday.
Aniyah Dean was excellent, scoring two runs while going 3-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaylann Byers, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
St. Clair County hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now struck out at most five strikeouts in nine consecutive contests.
St. Clair County is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-5-1 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.8 runs over those games. The win got Alexandria back to even at 2-2.
St. Clair County's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Saturday. Alexandria has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.5 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for St. Clair County, though, as they've been averaging only 3.2 strikeouts. Will Alexandria keep running through batters, or will St. Clair County buck the trend?
Alexandria beat St. Clair County 8-4 in their previous matchup back in May of 2024. Does Alexandria have another victory up their sleeve, or will St. Clair County turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.