After two games on the road, Central is heading back home. They will take on the Hollidaysburg Golden Tigers at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Central is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.4 runs per game this season.
On Tuesday, it was a hard-fought contest, but Central had to settle for a 7-6 loss against Clearfield.
Bralyn Ellis made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-4 with a home run and a double.
Even though they lost, Central didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with eight strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Clearfield only tossed four.
Meanwhile, everything went Hollidaysburg's way against Bellwood-Antis on Tuesday as Hollidaysburg made off with a 12-1 victory. That 11 run margin sets a new team best for Hollidaysburg this season.
Maria Malone made a splash no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out 13 batters over six innings while giving up just one earned run off five hits. Malone has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive pitching appearances. Malone was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with two RBI.
In other batting news, Mikaylah Vincent and Hallee Chandler did most of the damage at the plate: Vincent scored two runs while going 2-for-4, while Chandler scored a run while going 2-for-4. Sydney Shay was another key contributor, going 2-for-4 with a stolen base and a double.
Central now has a losing record at 8-9. As for Hollidaysburg, their win ended a six-game drought on the road and puts them at 7-9.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Wednesday. Central hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.7 home runs per game. However, it's not like Hollidaysburg struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Central couldn't quite finish off Hollidaysburg when the teams last played back in April and fell 5-3. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Malone, who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Now that Central knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
