Softball Game Preview: South Albany Redhawks vs. Central Panthers

South Albany is 2-8 against Central since April of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Redhawks will head out to square off against the Panthers at 5:00 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty run totals in their previous games.

On Wednesday, South Albany needed a bit of extra time to put away Crescent Valley. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Raiders, sneaking past 12-11. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Redhawks.

Maddie Angel and Alicia Martindale did most of the damage at the plate: Angel went 3-for-4 with three stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI, while Martindale went 3-for-5 with four RBI and one run. With that strong performance, Angel is now averaging an impressive 1.1 stolen bases per game. Emily Tschida was another key player, going 2-for-5 with two doubles and one run.

They weren't the only ones making solid contact: South Albany kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 16 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Crescent Valley only managed ten hits.

Meanwhile, Central got the win against Lebanon on Monday by a conclusive 11-1. The Panthers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won nine matches by eight runs or more this season.

Central pushed their record up to 12-5 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for South Albany, their record is now 7-12.

South Albany suffered a grim 9-0 defeat to Central in their previous matchup back in April. Can the Redhawks avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.