Softball Game Preview: Encinal Jets vs. St. Helena Saints

The Encinal Jets are taking a road trip to challenge the St. Helena Saints at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. St. Helena took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Encinal, who comes in off a win.

Encinal was handed a ten-run loss in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Wednesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-4 victory over Berkeley. The Jets haven't had any issues with the Yellowjackets recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive win against them.

Cameron Tran spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered four earned runs on eight hits.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Tamyrah Jamison, who went 2-for-3 with one home run. That home run marked the first that she launched this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Jazzy Alcantar, who got on base in three of her four plate appearances with two RBI.

Meanwhile, Tuesday just wasn't the day for St. Helena's offense. They fell just short of Vintage by a score of 2-0 on Tuesday. The Saints haven't had much luck with the Crushers recently, as the team has come up short the last four times they've met.

St. Helena saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ellie Carmichael, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases and one double. That's the most hits Carmichael has posted since back in April of 2024.

St. Helena's defeat dropped their record down to 4-4. As for Encinal, their victory bumped their record up to 3-4.

Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Encinal hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.4 home runs per game. However, it's not like St. Helena struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.