Softball Game Preview: Walden Grove Red Wolves vs. Safford Bulldogs

The Walden Grove Red Wolves are taking a road trip to face off against the Safford Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Walden Grove's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Sahuaro with a sharp 15-0 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Red Wolves.

Maddie Holzer made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out eight over five innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-2 with two RBI. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in February.

Hannah Montijo

Stolen Base (Career)

04/02/25 @ Sahuaro	2
04/24/24 @ Paradise Honors	1
03/20/24 vs Rio Rico	1
02/22/24 vs Bel Air	1

In other batting news, Walden Grove let Isabel Higuera and Hannah Montijo run wild. Higuera went 1-for-4 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs, while Montijo scored two runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3. Those two stolen bases gave Montijo a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Ariah Ramirez, who scored two runs while going 2-for-2.

Walden Grove kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least nine hits in four consecutive games.

Safford never got on the board in their matchup on Tuesday, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Blue Ridge on Wednesday. They blew past the Yellow Jackets 16-5.

Walden Grove now has a winning record of 7-6. As for Safford, they now have a winning record of 8-7.

Everything went Walden Grove's way against Safford in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, as Walden Grove made off with a 10-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Red Wolves since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.