Hammond Bishop Noll is 6-0 against North Newton since April of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Hammond Bishop Noll Warriors will square off against the North Newton Spartans at 4:30 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Hammond Bishop Noll will head into Friday's game hoping to keep the good times rolling: they proved they can win big on Wednesday (they won by 17) but on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Calumet Christian and snuck past 8-6.
Madelynn (Maddie) Queen made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out eight batters over seven innings while giving up four earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits. Queen has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in seven consecutive pitching appearances. Queen was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a home run and three RBI.
In other batting news, Caitlyn Walker and Aiyanna (Yani) Espinosa did most of the damage at the plate: Walker scored two runs while going 2-for-3, while Espinosa scored a run while going 3-for-3. Another player making a difference was Anais (Niecy) Reyna, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, North Newton had already proven themselves in the regular season and they didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They never let Whiting onto the board and left with a 13-0 win on Tuesday. North Newton might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won 11 matchups by ten runs or more this season.
Like Hammond Bishop Noll, North Newton also got a great game from a two-way player: Sydney Rainford. On the mound, she kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 14 over five innings pitched. Rainford was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 1-for-4.
In other batting news, North Newton got a massive performance out of Brynn Christenson, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 1-for-2. Isabella LaTulip was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3.
Hammond Bishop Noll's victory bumped their record up to 12-7. As for North Newton, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 13 of their last 14 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 18-3 record this season.
Hammond Bishop Noll took their win against North Newton in their previous meeting back in April of 2017 by a conclusive 13-2. The rematch might be a little tougher for Hammond Bishop Noll since the team 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
