The Woodford County Yellowjackets will square off against the Highlands Bluebirds at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Woodford County has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the contest with three straight defeats, while Highlands will come in with 16 straight victories.
Lafayette hit Woodford County with a five-run second inning on Friday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Yellowjackets came up short against the Generals, falling 10-3.
Lily Slayton was cooking despite her team's loss, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. Norah Ashburn was another key player, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with one double and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Highlands got the win against Dayton on Friday by a conclusive 17-2. Considering the Bluebirds have won 12 matchups by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Highlands let Payton Brown and Bailee Class run wild. Brown went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI, while Class went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Kaitlyn Dixon, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one triple, two RBI, and one run.
Highlands always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .731. The last time their OBP was this high was back in April of 2024.
Highlands pushed their record up to 23-5-1 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Woodford County, their loss dropped their record down to 15-12-1.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Saturday as neither team is afraid to steal. Woodford County has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.2 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Highlands struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Everything went Woodford County's way against Highlands when the teams last played back in March of 2022, as Woodford County made off with a 15-2 win. Will the Yellowjackets repeat their success, or do the Bluebirds have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
