Softball Preview: Cherokee Trail Cougars vs. Smoky Hill Buffaloes
The Cherokee Trail Cougars will face off against the Smoky Hill Buffaloes at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Cherokee Trail is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last seven games.
Cherokee Trail is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Colorado's top teams: Grandview, who was ranked 12th in their home state at the time (Cherokee Trail was ranked fourth). Cherokee Trail walked away with an 11-6 win over Grandview on Saturday.
Emma Rice made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run while striking out nine over 5.1 innings pitched. Rice was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI.
In other batting news, Icela Ciocarlan was incredible, firing off two home runs and three RBI while going 2-for-3. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in home runs. Another player making a difference was Isabelle Becker, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Cherokee Trail kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now hit at least 11 hits in four consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, after soaring to 18 runs the game before, Smoky Hill was a bit more limited in their game on Saturday. They lost 13-1 to Eaglecrest. The Buffaloes haven't had much luck with the Raptors recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.
Smoky Hill saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Nikiah Light, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Cherokee Trail pushed their record up to 10-2 with that victory, which was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Smoky Hill, their loss dropped their record down to 2-11.
Smoky Hill's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Cherokee Trail has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 12.2 hits per game. It's a different story for Smoky Hill, though, as they've been averaging 12.8. Given Cherokee Trail's sizable advantage in that area, Smoky Hill will need to find a way to close that gap.
Cherokee Trail took their win against Smoky Hill when the teams last played back in September of 2023 by a conclusive 16-6. Will Cherokee Trail repeat their success, or does Smoky Hill have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
