Softball Game Preview: Yuba City Honkers vs. Placer Hillmen

By Team Reports May 6, 2025, 2:34am

Softball Preview: Yuba City Honkers vs. Placer Hillmen

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The Yuba City Honkers will challenge the Placer Hillmen at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Yuba City is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.7 runs per game this season.

Yuba City gave up the first runs on Monday, but they didn't let that get them down. Everything went their way against Nevada Union as they made off with a 24-2 win. The Honkers have beaten the Miners the last five times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Miners has come to flipping the script.

Maddison Stead made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits (and only one walk). Stead was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. Those four RBI gave her a new career-high.

Chloe Gonzales

Doubles (Career)

05/05/25 @ Nevada Union2
05/01/25 @ Del Campo1
04/22/25 vs Laguna Creek1
04/17/25 @ Inderkum1
04/08/25 vs Nevada Union1

In other batting news, Chloe Gonzales was a standout: she went 3-for-4 with five RBI, three runs, and two doubles. Those two doubles gave her a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Naiema Cawthon, who went 2-for-5 with one home run, five RBI, and two runs.

Yuba City always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .643. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, Placer didn't have quite enough to beat River Valley on Monday and fell 5-4. That's two games in a row now that the Hillmen have lost by just one run.

Paige Denniston made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs.

Placer's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 15-6. As for Yuba City, their victory bumped their record up to 17-7-1.

Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Tuesday. Yuba City hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.4 home runs per game. However, it's not like Placer struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.7 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.

Everything went Yuba City's way against Placer in their previous meeting back in April, as Yuba City made off with a 10-0 win. Do the Honkers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Hillmen turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.

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