Softball Preview: Grace Christian Academy Crusaders vs. Donovan Wildcats
The Grace Christian Academy Crusaders will be playing in front of their home fans against the Donovan Wildcats at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Grace Christian Academy will bounce into Monday's game after beating St. Anne, who they hadn't topped in seven consecutive meetings. Grace Christian Academy sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-3 victory over St. Anne on Thursday.
Natalie Dalton made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and not a single walk). Dalton has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in three consecutive pitching appearances. Dalton was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in two of her three plate appearances.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Lexi Salazar, who went 1-for-2 with a home run. Angelina Larsen was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Donovan beat Momence 4-1 on Thursday.
The team relied heavily on Piper Michl, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3.
Grace Christian Academy's win ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 3-9. As for Donovan, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 5-13 record this season.
Grace Christian Academy came out on top in a nail-biter against Donovan when the teams last played last Thursday, sneaking past 8-6. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Donovan's Laylah Lou Walters, who struck out 12 batters over six innings while giving up just one earned (and five unearned) runs off five hits (and not a single walk). Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Grace Christian Academy still be able to contain Walters? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
