Softball Game Preview: Shaker Heights Red Raiders vs. Mentor Cardinals

The Shaker Heights Red Raiders will challenge the Mentor Cardinals at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

Shaker Heights fell victim to Medina and their airtight pitching crew on Tuesday. They came up short against the Battling Bees, falling 12-0. The loss continues a trend for the Red Raiders in their meetings with the Battling Bees: they've now lost six in a row.

Meanwhile, Mentor waltzed into their contest on Tuesday with three straight wins... but they left with four. They skirted past the Blue Devils 7-5.

Sophia Smalley was excellent, going 1-for-3 with one home run and two runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Ireland Rainey, who went 1-for-3 with one home run.

They weren't the only ones working in the home run department: Mentor lost a few balls and finished the game with three home runs. That's the most home runs they've posted in their last eight games.

Mentor's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-6. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.5 runs on average over those games. As for Shaker Heights, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-3.

Shaker Heights might still be hurting after the 12-0 loss they got from Mentor in their previous meeting two weeks ago. Can the Red Raiders avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.