Softball Game Preview: Sandy Pioneers vs. Mountainside Mavericks

The Sandy Pioneers will venture away from home to square off against the Mountainside Mavericks at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Sandy will be looking to extend their current six-game winning streak.

Sandy proved they can win big on Wednesday (they won by ten) and on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. They had just enough and edged out Century 2-1.

Meanwhile, Mountainside got themselves on the board against Putnam on Friday, but Putnam never followed suit. They were the clear victors by an 8-0 margin over the Kingsmen. The Mavericks might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matches by six runs or more this season.

Mountainside got a great performance from Skylar Hins as she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out six over 4.2 innings pitched. Hins has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive appearances.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Natalie Kawaguchi, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3. That's the most stolen bases she has posted since back in March. Ainsley Arbow also deserves some recognition as she brought in her first RBI of the season.

Mountainside has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 6-5 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.2 runs over those games. As for Sandy, their victory bumped their record up to 8-2.