Softball Preview: Smoky Hill Buffaloes vs. Eaglecrest Raptors
The Smoky Hill Buffaloes will take on the Eaglecrest Raptors at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The two teams are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.
Having struggled with ten defeats in a row, Smoky Hill finally turned things around against Rangeview on Wednesday. Everything went their way against the Raiders as they made off with an 18-4 victory. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Buffaloes considering their one-run performance the matchup before.
Ava Matheny was a major factor no matter where she played. She pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in strikeouts. She was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while going 1-for-1.
In other batting news, Kiley Snyder was a standout: she scored a run while going 3-for-4. The last time her batting average was this high was back in September of 2023. Another player making a difference was Ellen Paris, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Smoky Hill kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Rangeview only hit five.
Meanwhile, after only one run in their last match, Eaglecrest made sure to put some runs up on the board against ThunderRidge on Friday. Everything went Eaglecrest's way against ThunderRidge as Eaglecrest made off with a 12-2 win. Considering the Raptors have won eight contests by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
The team relied heavily on Sybella Trevino, who went 2-for-3 with four RBI and a triple. The team also got some help courtesy of Briahna Gallegos, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.
Smoky Hill's victory ended a nine-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 2-10. As for Eaglecrest, their win bumped their record up to 9-5.
Saturday's game will be a test for both team's pitchers. Smoky Hill hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of 0. However, it's not like Eaglecrest struggles in that department as they've averaged 0. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Smoky Hill suffered a grim 11-2 defeat to Eaglecrest when the teams last played back in October of 2023. Can Smoky Hill avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
