Softball Game Preview: Sparks Railroaders vs. South Tahoe Vikings

Sparks has gone a perfect 10-0 against South Tahoe recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Railroaders will look to defend their home field against the Vikings at 1:00 p.m. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Sparks is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They walked away with an 8-5 win over Hug on Wednesday.

Bailey Hunden

Batters Struck Out (Career)

04/02/25 @ Hug	15
03/16/24 @ Spring Creek	10
04/19/24 @ Truckee	9
03/14/25 vs Elko	6
03/15/24 @ Elko	6

Bailey Hunden made a big impact no matter where she played. She struck out 15 batters over seven innings while giving up four earned (and one unearned) runs off four hits. Those 15 strikeouts gave her a new career-high. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base and one RBI.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Elise Henderson, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-4. That's the most hits she has posted since back in March of 2024. Liliana Pimentel Espana was another key player, scoring a run and stealing four bases while going 2-for-3.

Sparks was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .400. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, South Tahoe won against Truckee on Saturday with 22 runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Wednesday. The Vikings put the hurt on Wooster with a sharp 22-1 victory. The win continues a trend for the Vikings in their matchups with the Colts: they've now won six in a row.

Haylee Boring was incredible, scoring four runs and stealing six bases while going 3-for-3. Another player making a difference was Samantha Ebright, who scored four runs and stole six bases while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.

South Tahoe's victory bumped their record up to 5-11. As for Sparks, their win (their first of the season) made their record 1-5.

Sparks beat South Tahoe 10-7 in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. Will the Railroaders repeat their success, or do the Vikings have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.