Softball Preview: Atwater Falcons vs. Golden Valley Cougars
Atwater is on a three-game streak of home wins, while Golden Valley is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Atwater Falcons will take on the Golden Valley Cougars at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Atwater will be strutting in after a victory while Golden Valley will be coming in after a loss.
On Friday, Atwater needed a bit of extra time to put away Central Valley. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Hawks and snuck past 5-4.
Kylie Medina spent all eight innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned (and two unearned) runs on eight hits. Those eight innings set a new season-high mark for her.
At the plate, Atwater saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Madi Hiler, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3. Mia Hendrickson was another key contributor, going 3-for-4 with an RBI.
Meanwhile, after soaring to 15 runs the game before, Golden Valley was a bit more limited in their matchup on Friday. They fell just short of Patterson by a score of 2-1.
Golden Valley also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and she was also dialed-in: Bree Barner gave up two runs (both of which were unearned) on three hits and racked up 12 Ks. Barner has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in 14 consecutive pitching appearances.
Atwater has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 10-10 record this season. As for Golden Valley, their defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 9-10.
Both the pair just can't seem to miss. Atwater has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9.2 hits per game. However, it's not like Golden Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 4.3. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Atwater came out on top in a nail-biter against Golden Valley in their previous meeting back in March, sneaking past 5-4. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Barner, who struck out 11 batters over seven innings while giving up three earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Atwater still be able to contain Barner? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
