Softball Preview: Pomona Panthers vs. Wheat Ridge Farmers
Pomona and Wheat Ridge are an even 3-3 against one another since August of 2017, but likely not for long. The Pomona Panthers will face off against the Wheat Ridge Farmers at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Pomona is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.8 runs per game this season.
On Wednesday, Pomona came up short against Golden and fell 12-9. The Panthers have struggled against the Demons recently, as their game on Wednesday was their seventh consecutive lost matchup.
Erica Rivera was cooking despite her team's loss, going 4-for-4 with a home run, five RBI, and three runs. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in hits. Another player making a difference was Grace Kerr, who scored three runs while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Wheat Ridge made easy work of Standley Lake on Wednesday and carried off a 12-1 victory. Considering the Farmers have won ten matches by more than seven runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Haley Cross made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She struck out nine batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. Cross was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBI.
In other batting news, Wheat Ridge got a big performance out of Oliva Hoppe, who scored two runs while going 2-for-2. Another player making a difference was Juliet Jackson, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Wheat Ridge was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .464. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Standley Lake only posted a batting average of .118.
Pomona's loss dropped their record down to 11-10. As for Wheat Ridge, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a massive bump to their 12-10 record this season.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Pomona has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.3 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Wheat Ridge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 4.2. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Pomona took their win against Wheat Ridge in their previous meeting two weeks ago by a conclusive 14-3. Will Pomona repeat their success, or does Wheat Ridge have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
