Softball Game Preview: Toll Gate Titans vs. Ponaganset Chieftains

The Toll Gate Titans will square off against the Ponaganset Chieftains at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Toll Gate is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Rhode Island's top teams: East Providence, who was ranked seventh at the time (Toll Gate was ranked 18th). The Titans came up short against the Townies on Friday, falling 12-4. The loss continues a trend for the Titans in their meetings with the Townies: they've now lost five in a row.

Meanwhile, while Ponaganset put up plenty of runs on Monday, the same can't be said for Scituate. The Chieftains blew past the Spartans 13-0. With that victory, the Chieftains brought their scoring average up to 6.2 runs per game.

Mattea Mello looked comfortable as she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out seven over four innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in five consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Ponaganset got a massive performance out of Selah Mychael, who went 2-for-4 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Those three RBI gave Mychael a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Natalia Scorpio, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, two runs, and two doubles.

Ponaganset always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .571. They are a perfect 5-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.

Ponaganset is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 8-11 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.0 runs over those games. As for Toll Gate, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-8.