The Graham-Kapowsin Eagles will head out to face off against the Emerald Ridge Jaguars at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
If Graham-Kapowsin beats Emerald Ridge with 11 runs on Thursday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two matches with that exact score. The Eagles beat Curtis on Tuesday by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 11-1. The Eagles haven't had any issues with the Vikings recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive victory against them.
MaKena Rodgers
| 04/15/25 vs Curtis | 4 |
| 05/08/24 vs Bellarmine Prep | 3 |
| 04/04/25 @ Bonney Lake | 2 |
| 03/24/25 @ Olympia | 2 |
| 03/21/25 vs Pe Ell/Willapa Valley | 2 |
The team relied heavily on MaKena Rodgers, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. Those four RBI gave her a new career-high. Izzy Vargas also deserves some recognition as she hit her first triple of the season.
Meanwhile, Emerald Ridge had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.2 runs) and they went ahead and made it six on Tuesday. They blew past the Sentinels 19-4.
Ava Puttler made a splash while hitting and pitching. She struck out eight batters over six innings while giving up four earned runs off three hits. Puttler was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while getting on base in two of her five plate appearances.
In other batting news, Emerald Ridge got a massive performance out of Abygale Redwine, who went 4-for-5 with one home run, four runs, and five RBI. Jayda Guadron was another key player, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and four RBI.
Emerald Ridge was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .382. They are a perfect 8-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Emerald Ridge's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-3. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Graham-Kapowsin, their record is now 6-3.
Both Graham-Kapowsin and Emerald Ridge just can't seem to miss. The Eagles have been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10.6 hits per game. However, it's not like Emerald Ridge struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 5 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Graham-Kapowsin suffered a grim 15-2 defeat to Emerald Ridge when the teams last played back in May of 2024. Can the Eagles avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
