The Granite Hills Cougars will challenge the Irvine Vaqueros at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Granite Hills comes in on four and Irvine on five.
Granite Hills is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. Everything went their way against St. Genevieve as they made off with a 15-4 victory. The Cougars might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 11 contests by seven runs or more this season.
Olivia Young spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and three unearned) runs on seven hits.
On the hitting side, Saylor Croom was incredible, going 3-for-5 with two runs, two doubles, and two RBI. Isabel Brandon was another key player, going 1-for-2 with two runs, one double, and one RBI.
They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Granite Hills kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 18 hits. They are 12-3 when they post 11 or more hits.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Irvine). They put the hurt on Heritage with a sharp 18-7 win on Wednesday. That's two games straight that the Vaqueros have won by exactly 11 runs.
Midori De Los Santos made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She pitched 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. De Los Santos was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.
In other batting news, Shelley Qi was a standout: she went 3-for-5 with one home run, four runs, and four RBI. Those four runs gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Harper Vandermolen, who got on base in four of her five plate appearances with one home run, four RBI, and two runs.
Irvine's victory bumped their record up to 14-16. As for Granite Hills, their win bumped their record up to 13-8.
Irvine's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Granite Hills has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 11.8 hits per game. It's a different story for Irvine, though, as they've been averaging 9.3 hits. Given Granite Hills' sizable advantage in that area, the Vaqueros will need to find a way to close that gap. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more softball content.
