Softball Game Preview: Naches Valley Rangers vs. Royal Knights

Naches Valley is 2-7 against Royal since March of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Rangers are taking a road trip to challenge the Knights at 3:00 p.m.

On Tuesday, Naches Valley didn't have quite enough to beat Kiona-Benton and fell 6-5. The Rangers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Meanwhile, Royal waltzed into their contest on Tuesday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They were the clear victors by a 19-2 margin over the Eagles. The result was nothing new for the Knights, who have now won 12 games by seven runs or more so far this season.

Jill Allred made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out six batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits. Allred was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-5 with three runs and one stolen base.

In other batting news, Royal let Lily Delarosa and Emerson Eilers run wild. Delarosa went a perfect 4-for-4 with three stolen bases, four runs, and four RBI, while Eilers went 4-for-5 with four runs, four RBI, and one triple. That's the most runs Delarosa has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Adalynn Andersen, who got on base in four of her five plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.

Royal always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .571. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in three consecutive matches.

Royal's victory was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 15-3. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.4 runs on average over those games. As for Naches Valley, their loss dropped their record down to 7-10.

Naches Valley suffered a grim 12-2 defeat to Royal in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Can the Rangers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.