Softball Preview: Crestwood Red Devils vs. Berkshire Badgers
Crestwood is 6-1 against Berkshire since April of 2021, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Monday. The Crestwood Red Devils will head out on the road to square off against the Berkshire Badgers at 4:30 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Friday, Crestwood earned a 10-6 win over Grand Valley. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Crestwood.
Bella Hunter made a splash no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out 11 batters over seven innings while giving up three earned (and three unearned) runs off eight hits. Hunter has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive pitching appearances. Hunter was also stellar in the batter's box, firing off two home runs, five RBI, and three runs while going 3-for-3.
Hunter wasn't the only one making solid contact as six players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Grace Harper, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-1. Another player making a difference was Amelia Gullatta, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Berkshire put the finishing touches on their ninth blowout victory of the season on Saturday. They blew past Lakeside 20-2.
Olivia Masink was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 4-for-5. She is trending in the right direction, as she's improved her point production for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Whitney Davis, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 4-for-5.
Crestwood is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 9-7 record this season. As for Berkshire, the victory got them back to even at 10-10.
Berkshire's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Crestwood has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9.5 hits per game. It's a different story for Berkshire, though, as they've been averaging 9.4. Given Crestwood's sizable advantage in that area, Berkshire will need to find a way to close that gap.
Crestwood might still be hurting after the 16-4 defeat they got from Berkshire in their previous matchup two weeks ago. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Davis, who struck out 13 batters over seven innings while giving up four earned runs off six hits. Now that Crestwood 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
