Juanita has enjoyed the comforts of home their last seven games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will challenge the Liberty Patriots at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Wednesday, Juanita sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-3 victory over Everett.
Elliott Parker spent all seven innings played on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three earned runs on five hits and racked up six Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in six consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Ashlyn Cook, who went 2-for-3 with a stolen base, two RBI, and a double.
Meanwhile, Liberty scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Wednesday. Everything went their way against Hazen as Liberty made off with a 17-4 win. Considering Liberty has won four matches by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Emi Connell was a standout: she fired off two home runs and three RBI while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances. Abby Gallas was another key contributor, scoring four runs and stealing a base while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.
Juanita pushed their record up to 6-3 with that victory, which was their fifth straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.0 runs per game. As for Liberty, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 4-5 record this season.
Liberty's pitching crew has a tough task ahead of them: Juanita hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .416. It's a different story for Liberty, though, as they've only averaged .257. Will they be able to contain Juanita's hitters?
Everything went Juanita's way against Liberty when the teams last played back in May of 2023 as Juanita made off with an 18-8 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Juanita 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
