Softball Preview: Papillion-LaVista Monarchs vs. Millard West Wildcats
Papillion-LaVista is 8-2 against Millard West since August of 2021, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. The Papillion-LaVista Monarchs will host the Millard West Wildcats. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Millard West is hoping to do what Marian couldn't on Thursday: put an end to Papillion-LaVista's winning streak, which now stands at four games. Everything went Papillion-LaVista's way against Marian as Papillion-LaVista made off with a 9-1 win.
Carly Bertolini spent all five innings played on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered one run (which was unearned) on five hits. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Alexa Taylor, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in hits. Allison Dibelka was another key player, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.
Papillion-LaVista hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now struck out at most five strikeouts in ten consecutive games.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Millard West). They never let Omaha Central onto the board and left with a 15-0 victory on Thursday. The Wildcats' pitching crew has been rock solid lately; the team hasn't given up a run in their last three matchups.
Papillion-LaVista's win was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 22-8. As for Millard West, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matches, which provided a nice bump to their 19-9 record this season.
Papillion-LaVista came out on top in a nail-biter against Millard West in their previous meeting back in August, sneaking past 2-0. Will Papillion-LaVista repeat their success, or does Millard West have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
