Softball Game Preview: Hinckley-Finlayson Jaguars vs. Pine City Dragons

The Hinckley-Finlayson Jaguars will venture away from home to take on the Pine City Dragons at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Hinckley-Finlayson will be strutting in after a win while Pine City will be coming in after a loss.

Hinckley-Finlayson is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They blew past East Central 10-1 on Tuesday. Considering the Jaguars have won three matchups by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.

Natalie Stafne made a splash while hitting and pitching. She struck out 13 batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. Stafne was also solid in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with one run and one double. That run marked the first that she has scored this season.

In other batting news, Hinckley-Finlayson got a massive performance out of Lainey Johnson, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with three stolen bases, four RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Autumn Painovich, who went 2-for-3 with three runs, two doubles, and one RBI.

Hinckley-Finlayson was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .485. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.

Meanwhile, Pine City was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their eighth straight defeat. They came up short against Mora, falling 16-5.

Pine City's loss dropped their record down to 1-8. As for Hinckley-Finlayson, their record is now 3-4.

Hinckley-Finlayson took their victory against Pine City in their previous matchup back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 20-1 score. Will the Jaguars repeat their success, or do the Dragons have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.