Softball Game Preview: Crystal River Pirates vs. Chiefland Indians

The Crystal River Pirates will take on the Chiefland Indians at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Crystal River has seven straight victories, Chiefland has six straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Chiefland's hitters are going to have their work cut out for them on Friday: Crystal River hadn't allowed a single run the last three times they've hit the field. Crystal River never let Lecanto get on the board and left with a 10-0 win on Thursday. Considering the Pirates have won five games by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

Violet Flynn

Batters Struck Out

03/20/25 vs Lecanto	13
03/18/25 @ Branford	17
03/13/25 vs Williston	15
03/11/25 @ Nature Coast Tech	13
03/06/25 vs Dunnellon	12
+ 6 more games

Violet Flynn made a big impact no matter where she played. She kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 13 over five innings pitched. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't tossed less than nine strikeouts in 11 consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.

In other batting news, Athena Childs was a standout: she scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Emma Crosby, who scored three runs while going 2-for-4.

Crystal River was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .407. The last time their batting average was this high was back in April of 2024.

Meanwhile, Thursday just wasn't the day for Chiefland's offense. They took a 5-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of Newberry last Thursday.

Anna Jane Meeks spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and four unearned) runs on six hits and racked up seven Ks.

Crystal River pushed their record up to 11-1 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 6.8 runs. As for Chiefland, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-9.

Crystal River took their win against Chiefland when the teams last played back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 10-0. Will Crystal River repeat their success, or does Chiefland have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.