Softball Game Preview: Southington Blue Knights vs. Masuk Panthers

The Southington Blue Knights will face off against the Masuk Panthers at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Southington is looking to give their home crowd another W after opening their season at home on Wednesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Middletown a 14-0 shutout. The Blue Knights haven't had any issues with the Blue Dragons recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive victory against them.

Shelby Jordan made a splash while hitting and pitching. She didn't allow a single earned run while striking out nine over five innings pitched. Those nine strikeouts gave her a new career-high. She was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while going 1-for-2.

Reagan Salvatore

Runs Batted In (Career)

04/09/25 vs Middletown	4
05/08/24 @ Hall	1
05/06/24 @ Maloney	1
05/01/24 vs Bristol Central	1
04/26/24 vs RHAM	1

In other batting news, Southington let Aubrey Perugini and Reagan Salvatore run wild. Perugini scored three runs and stole a base while going 4-for-4, while Salvatore went 3-for-4 with four runs, four RBI, and one stolen base. Those four RBI gave Salvatore a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Alexa Poutouves, who scored three runs while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.

Meanwhile, Masuk had already won 28 in a row dating back to last season (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8 runs) and they went ahead and made it 29 on Wednesday. They put the hurt on the Mustangs with a sharp 6-0 win.

Like Southington, Masuk also got a great game from a two-way player: Julia Bacoulis. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only two hits while striking out 15 over seven innings pitched. Bacoulis was also big at the plate, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Alyssa Castillo, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3.