Softball Game Preview: Fort Chiswell Pioneers vs. Rural Retreat Indians

Fort Chiswell has gone 8-2 against Rural Retreat recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Pioneers will welcome the Indians at 5:00 p.m. Rural Retreat took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Fort Chiswell, who comes in off a win.

Fort Chiswell headed into their last game having not scored more than two runs for three straight, but Galax let them put that streak behind them. The Pioneers were the clear victors by a 15-3 margin over the Maroon Tide on Tuesday. The win continues a trend for the Pioneers in their matchups with the Maroon Tide: they've now won five in a row.

Blair Jackson

Batters Struck Out

04/08/25 @ Galax	18
04/04/25 vs George Wythe	15
04/01/25 vs Auburn	7
03/28/25 @ Grayson County	11
03/27/25 vs Narrows	8
+ 11 more games

Blair Jackson made a big impact no matter where she played. She didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 18 over seven innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts she has posted since back in April of 2024. She was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-5. That stolen base was her first of the season.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Krista King, who went 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and one stolen base. Lilly Goforth was another key player, scoring two runs while going 2-for-5.

Meanwhile, Rural Retreat didn't have quite enough to beat George Wythe on Wednesday and fell 5-4. The contest marked the Indians' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.

Fort Chiswell's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 5-3. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average over those games. As for Rural Retreat, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 3-2.

Fort Chiswell skirted past Rural Retreat 7-5 when the teams last played back in March. Will the Pioneers repeat their success, or do the Indians have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.