Niles North is 1-9 against Niles West since April of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Niles North Vikings will stay at home for another game and welcome the Niles West Wolves at 4:45 p.m. Niles North is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 9.2 runs per game this season.
Last Tuesday, Niles North suffered a rough 11-5 defeat at the hands of Vernon Hills.
Charlotte Williams put in work while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, tossing 2.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit (she also only allowed one walk). Williams has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances. Williams was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-2.
Williams wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Amaya Kang, who went 2-for-4 with a stolen base, a double, and an RBI.
Niles West never got on the board in their matchup on Friday, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Maine East last Tuesday. Everything went their way against the Blue Demons as they made off with a 13-1 win.
Like Niles North, Niles West also got a great game from a two-way player: Penny Hutchinson. She didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. Hutchinson was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, Genciana Ortiz was a standout: she went 4-for-4 with four RBI, two runs, and a triple. Another player making a difference was Mackenzie Bickhaus, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-4.
Niles North's loss dropped their record down to 4-4-1. As for Niles West, their victory bumped their record up to 2-3.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Niles North hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Niles West struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.4. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Niles North suffered a grim 8-0 defeat to Niles West in their previous meeting back in May of 2023. Will Niles North have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
