Softball Preview: Yelm Tornados vs. River Ridge Hawks
Yelm is 6-1 against River Ridge since March of 2021, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Monday. The Yelm Tornados will head out on the road to challenge the River Ridge Hawks at 3:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Yelm had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 15.5 runs), and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They blew past the Cougars 14-4.
Austin Hitchner was a standout: she went 3-for-4 with two triples, four RBI, and a run. Elissa Dewees was another key contributor, scoring four runs while getting on base in all five of her plate appearances.
Meanwhile, River Ridge entered their tilt with Capital with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They put the hurt on the Cougars with a sharp 10-1 win on Thursday.
Alyssa Shandley made a splash no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out 11 over seven innings pitched. Shandley has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances. Shandley was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 2-for-2.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Jayden Kautz, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Lana Trinidad, who went 2-for-4 with two runs, a triple, and an RBI.
Yelm's record now sits at 7-2. As for River Ridge, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Monday. Yelm hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like River Ridge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.6. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
