Softball Game Preview: Pontiac Indians vs. Coal City Coalers

The Pontiac Indians will take on the Coal City Coalers at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Pontiac will be strutting in after a win while Coal City will be coming in after a loss.

Pontiac's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They came out on top against Lincoln by a score of 5-0. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Indians.

Elena Krause was a major factor no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only two hits while striking out 14 over seven innings pitched. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 12 consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one double.

Krause wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Tessa Collins, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base and one run. India Mattingly also deserves some recognition as she hit her first triple of the season.

Meanwhile, Coal City was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They came up short against Ottawa, falling 12-6.

Madalyn Petersen and Khloe Picard stepped up to the plate in a big way. Petersen went 2-for-4 with three runs, while Picard went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run. Addison Harvey was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base.

Pontiac pushed their record up to 18-8 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.3 runs on average over those games. As for Coal City, their loss dropped their record down to 17-11.

Pontiac was able to grind out a solid victory over Coal City in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, winning 5-1. Do the Indians have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Coalers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.