Softball Game Preview: Great Bridge Wildcats vs. Ocean Lakes Dolphins

The Great Bridge Wildcats will face off against the Ocean Lakes Dolphins at 5:45 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Great Bridge 3.3, Ocean Lakes 2.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Great Bridge is headed into the match having just suffered their closest loss since May 16, 2024 on Tuesday. They fell just short of Grassfield by a score of 3-1. The Wildcats have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Bailey Bliven spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and two unearned) runs on eight hits and racked up six Ks.

On the hitting side, Great Bridge saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Gabbie Kleier, who went 2-for-3 with two doubles and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Ocean Lakes came tearing into Tuesday's contest with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 6.3 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They put the hurt on the Chiefs with a sharp 12-2 victory. The Dolphins might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won ten games by six runs or more this season.

Ocean Lakes' win was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 15-4. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Great Bridge, their defeat dropped their record down to 15-5.

Great Bridge beat Ocean Lakes 3-0 when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Will the Wildcats repeat their success, or do the Dolphins have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.