Softball Preview: Hilltop Cadets vs. Montpelier Locomotives
Hilltop has been on the road for two straight, but on Thursday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Montpelier Locomotives at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Hilltop is headed into the matchup fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They never let Gorham Fayette onto the board and left with a 26-0 victory on Wednesday. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest win of the season.
Giada Rising made a big impact no matter where she played. She kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. Rising has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in eight consecutive pitching appearances. Rising was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while getting on base in three of her six plate appearances.
In other batting news, Hilltop got a massive performance out of Kelsy Connolly, who scored five runs while getting on base in four of her six plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Joscelyn Layman, who scored four runs while getting on base in five of her six plate appearances.
Meanwhile, after only two runs in their last match, Montpelier made sure to put some runs up on the board against Gorham Fayette on Tuesday. Montpelier was the clear victor by a 24-0 margin over Gorham Fayette. For those curious, yes, that was the biggest victory Montpelier has managed all season.
Like Hilltop, Montpelier also got a great game from a two-way player: Hennah Beck. On the mound, she tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Beck was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 2-for-2.
In other batting news, Maggie Jacob was a standout: she got on base in four of her six plate appearances with three runs, four RBI, and a triple. Bella Ramos was another key contributor, going 3-for-5 with four RBI, two runs, and a double.
Hilltop has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-4 record this season. As for Montpelier, their win bumped their record up to 6-4.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Hilltop hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Montpelier struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Hilltop was able to grind out a solid victory over Montpelier when the teams last played last Wednesday, winning 6-2. Will Hilltop repeat their success, or does Montpelier have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
