Softball Game Preview: Corning Cardinals vs. Orland Trojans

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Previous Games

05/07/24 - Away	0-9 L
04/19/24 - Home	5-1 W
05/09/23 - Home	9-8 W
04/21/23 - Away	6-7 L
05/12/22 - Home	3-0 W
+ 5 more games

Corning is 8-2 against Orland since March of 2019 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Tuesday. Corning will head out to square off against Orland at 5:00 p.m. Corning has given up an average of 10 runs per game this season, but Tuesday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Corning lost 14-1 to West Valley on Wednesday. The defeat continues a trend for the Cardinals in their meetings with the Eagles: they've now lost eight in a row.

While Orland didn't have the best season last year (they finished 7-17), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They never let Central Valley get on the board and left with a 7-0 victory on Thursday. The Trojans haven't had any issues with the Falcons recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.

Kiera McKenzie made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out 15 over 6.2 innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in five consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-2. She also put up two doubles, which were her first of the season.

In other batting news, Megan Noraas and Gracie Cutshall did most of the damage at the plate: Noraas went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one double, while Cutshall scored two runs while going 1-for-4. Another player making a difference was Emma Cutshall, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3.

Orland's victory was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-2. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.1 runs on average over those games. As for Corning, their loss dropped their record down to 1-10.

Corning suffered a grim 9-0 defeat to Orland in their previous matchup back in May of 2024. Can Corning avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.