Softball Recap: Empire Continues Home Dominance on Wednesday

Ravens

Margin (Wins)

04/03/25 @ Catalina	20
04/04/25 @ Ironwood Ridge	18
04/23/25 vs Thatcher	15
03/24/25 @ Florence	15
03/12/25 vs Mountain View	15

Two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only Empire walked away with it. They put the hurt on the Sabino Sabercats with a sharp 6-0 victory on Wednesday. Considering the Ravens have won 19 matches by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

Not much got past Kendall Freidinger, who gave up just five hits and racked up 14 Ks to keep Sabino off the board. Freidinger has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in 20 consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Abby Zsitvay was excellent, going 1-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one double. That's the most stolen bases she has posted since back in May of 2024. Another player making a difference was Lainey Kroeger, who earned one RBI, one run, and two stolen bases.

Empire's win was their 16th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 26-1. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.3 runs over those games. As for Sabino, they moved to 16-12 with that defeat, which also ended their five-game winning streak.

Coming up, Empire will challenge Tanque Verde at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The Ravens' pitchers better be ready for this one: the Hawks have averaged an impressive 10.7 runs per game this season. Sabino does not have any more games scheduled as of now.