Fort White is 1-6 against Santa Fe since April of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Indians will take on the Raiders at 7:00 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Fort White 2.1, Santa Fe 3.2) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Fort White will bounce into Thursday's contest after beating Baker County, who they had gone 0-3 against in their three prior meetings. The Indians came out on top against the Wildcats by a score of 7-3 on Wednesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Indians.
Kadence Compton was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out nine batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off 11 hits (and not a single walk). She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in nine consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and one double. That's the most hits she has posted since back in April of 2024.
Compton wasn't the only one making solid contact as three players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Graceanne Durrance, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-4. Peyton Griffis was another, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Santa Fe had already won 11 in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7.2 runs) and they went ahead and made it 12 on Tuesday. They walked away with a 9-4 win over the Indians.
Santa Fe also got a great performance from Makenna Payne as she tossed five innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits.
At the plate, J'Lyn Guyden and Madisen Crosby did most of the damage at the plate: Guyden went 4-for-5 with three runs, four RBI, and one triple, while Crosby went 3-for-5 with one home run, three runs, and one triple. Another player making a difference was Maren Hornsby, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-5.
Santa Fe was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .471. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .432 or higher in three consecutive matches.
Santa Fe pushed their record up to 17-1 with the victory, which was their ninth straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.6 runs over those games. As for Fort White, their record now sits at 13-5.
Fort White skirted past Santa Fe 4-3 in their previous meeting back in March. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Indians since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
