Softball Preview: Empire Ravens vs. Safford Bulldogs
Empire is 7-1 against Safford since March of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Empire Ravens will head out on the road to challenge the Safford Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. Empire knows how to get runs on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy run totals in its past four games -- so hopefully Safford likes a good challenge.
Empire put the finishing touches on their tenth blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. They never let Pueblo onto the board and left with an 11-0 victory.
Kendall Freidinger was a major factor no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out 15 over six innings pitched. Freidinger has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in four consecutive pitching appearances. Freidinger was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Morgan Faunce, who fired off three home runs, four runs, and four RBI while going 4-for-4. Another player making a difference was Angelina Dehler, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, everything went Safford's way against Kingman Academy on Friday as Safford made off with a 7-1 win. Seven seems to be a good number for Safford as the team scooped up a victory with the same number of runs in their previous game.
The team relied heavily on Trynity Dominguez, who scored a run while going 3-for-4.
Empire is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 13-7 record this season. As for Safford, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 8-10.
Thursday's contest will be a test for both team's pitchers. Empire hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .365. However, it's not like Safford struggles in that department as they've averaged .322. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Everything went Empire's way against Safford when the teams last played back in March of 2023 as Empire made off with an 11-1 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Empire since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
