The Clark Chargers will head out on the road to square off against the Rancho Rams at 3:30 p.m. on Monday.
Last Thursday, Clark came up short against Durango and fell 11-7. That's two games in a row now that Clark has lost by exactly four runs.
Sophia DeMonbrun was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. On the mound, she struck out ten batters over six innings while giving up four earned (and seven unearned) runs off three hits. DeMonbrun has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in five consecutive pitching appearances. DeMonbrun was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with three runs, three doubles, and three RBI.
In other batting news, Noel Gregorich made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and scored two runs while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was Lieba Gillet, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3.
Even though they lost, Clark was hitting in the alleys and finished the game with six doubles. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Durango only hit two.
Meanwhile, Rancho came tearing into Thursday's contest with 11 straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9 runs) and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against the Dragons by a score of 6-2.
Like Clark, Rancho also got a great game from a two-way player: Brooklynn Braun. She struck out 18 batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off one hit. Braun was also big at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a home run, two runs, and a stolen base.
Braun wasn't the only one making solid contact as two players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Layla Stout, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
This is the second loss in a row for Clark and nudges their season record down to 8-7. As for Rancho, they pushed their record up to 12-2 with that win, which was their eighth straight on the road.
Clark suffered a grim 9-1 defeat to Rancho when the teams last played on April 5th. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Braun, who struck out 16 batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (and not a single walk). Now that Clark 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
