Softball Preview: Spanish Fork Dons vs. Maple Mountain Golden Eagles
Spanish Fork is 10-0 against Maple Mountain since May of 2017, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Spanish Fork Dons are on the road again to play the Maple Mountain Golden Eagles at 3:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Spanish Fork is headed into the matchup fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They never let Timpview onto the board and left with an 18-0 win on Wednesday. Spanish Fork's pitching crew has been rock solid lately; the team hasn't given up a run in their last four matches.
Alyce Archuleta made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, pitching three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Archuleta has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive pitching appearances. Archuleta was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with four RBI.
In other batting news, Spanish Fork got a massive performance out of Olivia Carroll, who went 1-for-2 with a home run and four RBI. Jade Romero was another key contributor, scoring three runs while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Maple Mountain has not done well against Wasatch recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Maple Mountain blew past Wasatch 15-0. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Maple Mountain.
Like Spanish Fork, Maple Mountain also got a great game from a two-way player: Kyla Donegan. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit over four innings pitched. Donegan was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with four runs, a triple, and two RBI.
In other batting news, Lydia Tibbals was incredible, going 2-for-2 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Izzie Groneman, who scored three runs while going 3-for-4.
Spanish Fork's victory was their 12th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 16-2. As for Maple Mountain, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 7-9 record this season.
Maple Mountain's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Thursday. Spanish Fork has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.3 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Maple Mountain, though, as they've been averaging only 4. Will Spanish Fork keep running through batters, or will Maple Mountain buck the trend?
Spanish Fork took their win against Maple Mountain in their previous matchup back in March by a conclusive 14-4. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Maple Mountain's Gracie Jensen, who tossed 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and eight unearned) runs off nine hits. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Spanish Fork still be able to contain Jensen? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
