Softball Preview: Valwood Valiants vs. Tiftarea Academy Panthers
Valwood is 2-8 against Tiftarea Academy since October of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Valwood Valiants will square off against the Tiftarea Academy Panthers at 6:00 p.m. Valwood is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.9 runs per game this season.
Valwood will roll into the match after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up two runs on Tuesday, then bounced right back against Deerfield-Windsor on Wednesday. Valwood was the clear victor by a 14-3 margin over Deerfield-Windsor. The Valiants might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four contests by eight runs or more this season.
Hali Thomas was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Thomas was also big at the plate, scoring a run while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
In other batting news, Valwood let Haidi Vu and Abi Brooks loose on the outfield. Vu scored four runs and stole four bases while going 3-for-3, while Brooks went 2-for-3 with three runs, four RBI, and a triple. Brooks is trending in the right direction considering she's improved her point production for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Annasten Creech, who went 1-for-4 with four RBI and a triple.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Valwood didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with eight strikeouts. That's the most strikeouts they've posted since back in September of 2023.
Meanwhile, Tiftarea Academy was able to grind out a solid win over Brookwood on Tuesday, taking the game 9-5. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Panthers.
Valwood's victory ended a four-game drought on the road and puts them at 5-8. As for Tiftarea Academy, their record now sits at 8-9.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
