The North Sanpete Hawks will head out on the road to challenge the Manti Templars at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (North Sanpete has seven straight wins, Manti has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
North Sanpete can now show off 12 landslide victories after their most recent game on Thursday. Everything went their way against Canyon View as North Sanpete made off with a 9-3 victory. That's two games straight that North Sanpete has won by exactly six runs.
Katelyn Johnson spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and two unearned) runs on seven hits and racked up nine Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Dally Bailey and Paeton Johnson did most of the damage at the plate: Bailey fired off two home runs and three RBI while going 2-for-4, while Johnson went 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs, and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Madyson Steadman, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Manti fought the good fight in their extra-innings matchup against Providence Hall on Wednesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Patriots by a score of 4-3.
Manti also let their pitcher toss all eight innings and she was also dialed-in: Aidali Orozco gave up only one earned (and two unearned) runs on ten hits. Those eight innings set a new season-high mark for her.
At the plate, Mara Thompson was cooking despite her team's loss, going 2-for-3 with a home run and two runs.
North Sanpete pushed their record up to 14-8 with that win, which was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Manti, their loss dropped their record down to 9-15.
Manti's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Friday. North Sanpete has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.4 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Manti, though, as they've been averaging only 2.9. Will North Sanpete keep running through batters, or will Manti buck the trend?
Everything went North Sanpete's way against Manti when the teams last played last Wednesday as North Sanpete made off with an 11-4 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for North Sanpete since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
