Softball Game Preview: Richlands Wildcats vs. Croatan Cougars

Richlands is 8-2 against Croatan since March of 2021 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Wildcats will challenge the Cougars at 6:00 p.m. Richlands will be looking to extend their current eight-game winning streak.

Last Tuesday, Richlands sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-1 victory over Swansboro. That's two games straight that the Wildcats have won by just one run.

Makenzie Goin

Batters Struck Out

04/08/25 vs Swansboro	18
04/03/25 vs West Carteret	21
04/01/25 vs Croatan	15
03/28/25 @ White Oak	6
03/27/25 vs Midway	16
+ 2 more games

Makenzie Goin spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on three hits and racked up 18 Ks. She has been consistent : she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in seven consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Richlands' win was truly a team effort as six different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Cami Teal, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.

Richlands hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Swansboro struck out 18 times.

Meanwhile, after only two runs in their last matchup, Croatan made sure to put some runs up on the board against White Oak on Tuesday. The Cougars blew past the Vikings 12-0. The result was nothing new for the Cougars, who have now won five games by six runs or more so far this season.

Richlands' victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-4. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.4 runs on average over those games. As for Croatan, with the victory, they broke their three-game losing streak and moved their record to 7-5.

Richlands skirted past Croatan 2-0 in their previous meeting last Tuesday. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Wildcats since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.