The Parkland Matadors will face off against the Memorial Mavericks on Saturday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Parkland is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. Everything went their way against Burges as they made off with a 13-2 victory. Considering the Matadors have won 20 matchups by more than seven runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Samantha Martinez
| 04/24/26 vs Burges | 13 |
| 04/23/26 @ Burges | 6 |
| 04/17/26 vs Bel Air | 9 |
| 04/14/26 @ Americas | 5 |
| 04/11/26 vs El Dorado | 19 |
| + 5 more games |
Samantha Martinez made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out 13 over five innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in ten consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with one home run and one double.
In other batting news, Faith Avila was a standout: she went a perfect 3-for-3 with three doubles, three RBI, and one run. Stephanie Flores was another key player, going 2-for-4 with one home run and three runs.
Parkland lost a few balls and finished the game with three home runs. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Burges didn't launched any.
Meanwhile, Memorial got the win against Lubbock-Cooper on Friday by a conclusive 13-3. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Mavericks.
Like Parkland, Memorial also got a great game from a two-way player: Madison Walker. On the mound, she struck out seven batters over five innings while giving up three earned runs off six hits. Walker was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two runs and one stolen base.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Olivia Vanderburg, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, four runs, and five RBI. Those five RBI gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Breegan Gilbert, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
Parkland's win bumped their record up to 30-6. As for Memorial, their victory bumped their record up to 16-14-1.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Saturday. Parkland hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Memorial struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.4 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other softball content.
