Softball Game Preview: Natalia Mustangs vs. Comfort Bobcats/Deer

The Natalia Mustangs will take on the Comfort Bobcats/Deer in a tournament on Friday. Natalia is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last five games.

On Tuesday, Natalia needed a bit of extra time to put away Somerset. They narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past the Bulldogs 4-3.

Selyene Gallegos was excellent, scoring a run while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances.

Comfort never got on the board in their matchup last Monday, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Medina last Tuesday. Everything went their way against the Bobcats as they made off with a 10-3 victory. The high-scoring performance was a welcome turnaround for the Bobcats/Deer's hitters, who had struggled in the games prior.

Ella Thiele made a big impact no matter where she played. She struck out 12 batters over seven innings while giving up three earned runs off three hits. Those 12 strikeouts gave her a new career-high. She was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Kippy Sterling, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 4-for-4. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in hits (four). Bella Hernandez also deserves some recognition as she got her first hit of the season.

Comfort kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Medina only managed five hits.

Natalia's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-3. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs over those games. As for Comfort, they moved to 2-6 with that victory, which also ended their six-game losing streak.

Everything went Natalia's way against Comfort in their previous matchup back in March of 2019, as Natalia made off with a 10-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Natalia since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.