Softball Preview: Pomona Panthers vs. Standley Lake Gators
Pomona is 5-0 against Standley Lake since August of 2016, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Wednesday. The Pomona Panthers are taking a road trip to square off against the Standley Lake Gators at 4:00 p.m. Pomona is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.6 runs per game this season.
Pomona took a loss when they played away from home on Thursday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Monday. Everything went their way against Dakota Ridge as Pomona made off with a 17-7 win.
Lia Martinez was a standout: she scored three runs and stole a base while going 4-for-5. She is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as she's now stolen at least one in the last six games she's played dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Grace Kerr, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Pomona kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 15 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 0 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last five games they've averaged 10.
Meanwhile, Standley Lake lost 16-3 to Green Mountain on Monday. The Gators haven't had much luck with the Rams recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.
Standley Lake saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Zoe Trujillo, who scored two runs while going 1-for-1. The dominant performance also gave Trujillo a new career-low in strikeouts.
The victory got Pomona back to even at 9-9. As for Standley Lake, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-12.
Standley Lake's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Pomona has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10.1 hits per game. It's a different story for Standley Lake, though, as they've been averaging 9.5. Given Pomona's sizable advantage in that area, Standley Lake will need to find a way to close that gap.
Pomona took their win against Standley Lake when the teams last played back in September by a conclusive 14-4. The rematch might be a little tougher for Pomona since the team 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
