Softball Game Preview: Athens Wildcats vs. Wellsboro Hornets

The Athens Wildcats will face off against the Wellsboro Hornets at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Athens will be strutting in after a victory while Wellsboro will be coming in after a defeat.

Athens is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Pennsylvania's top teams: South Williamsport, who was ranked 24th at the time (Athens was ranked 13th). The Wildcats' pitcher stepped up to hand the Mountaineers a 3-0 shutout on Monday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Wildcats.

Gretchan Hiley

Batters Struck Out

05/12/25 vs South Williamsport	16
05/08/25 @ Cowanesque Valley	13
05/06/25 vs North Penn-Liberty	14
05/01/25 vs Wyalusing Valley	11
04/30/25 vs Varsity Opponent	11
+ 11 more games

Not much got past Gretchan Hiley, who gave up just two hits and racked up 16 Ks to keep South Williamsport off the board. Hiley has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than eight strikeouts in 16 consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Athens' win was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Maddie Hiley, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI. Jules Pack also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen base of the season.

Williamson hit Wellsboro with a five-run third inning on Monday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Hornets took a 9-4 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Warriors. The Hornets have struggled against the Warriors recently, as the game was their third consecutive lost meeting.

Wellsboro's loss dropped their record down to 5-10. As for Athens, their victory bumped their record up to 16-1.

Athens took their win against Wellsboro when the teams last played back in March by a conclusive 10-4 score. Will the Wildcats repeat their success, or do the Hornets have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.