Softball Preview: Highlands Owls vs. Alamo Heights Mules
The Highlands Owls will be playing in front of their home fans against the Alamo Heights Mules at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Tuesday, Highlands sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with an 8-6 victory over Jefferson.
Alyna Oppelt made a big impact no matter where she played. She pitched 6.1 innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off six hits (she also only allowed one walk). Oppelt was also big at the plate, scoring a run while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
In other batting news, Jenesis Rodriguez was incredible, going 3-for-3 with three doubles, a stolen base, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Analia Aparicio, who went 1-for-4 with two runs, a triple, and two RBI.
Meanwhile, Alamo Heights had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14.5 runs), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They walked away with a 5-2 win over the Bulldogs.
Like Highlands, Alamo Heights also got a great game from a two-way player: Clairee Embrey. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out nine over seven innings pitched. Embrey has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in nine consecutive pitching appearances. Embrey was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with a triple, a run, and an RBI.
Embrey wasn't the only one making solid contact as eight players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Elisabeth Dillard, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.
Highlands' victory bumped their record up to 5-7-1. As for Alamo Heights, their win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 18-10-1.
Highlands suffered a grim 11-0 defeat to Alamo Heights when the teams last played back in March. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Embrey, who struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and not a single walk). Now that Highlands knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
