Softball Game Preview: Rio Linda Knights vs. Natomas Nighthawks

The Rio Linda Knights will face off against the Natomas Nighthawks at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The timing is sure in Rio Linda's favor as the squad sits on six straight wins at home while Natomas has been banged up by five consecutive losses on the road.

Rio Linda's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They put the hurt on Woodland with a sharp 10-0 win. Considering the Knights have won nine matches by more than seven runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

Kiera Waggoner

Base on Balls Against

04/24/25 @ Woodland	1
04/22/25 @ Destiny Christian Academy	2
04/15/25 vs Justin Garza	1
04/15/25 vs Washington Union	1

Not much got past Kiera Waggoner, who gave up just two hits to keep Woodland off the board. Waggoner has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Alexa Mendoza, who went 2-for-4 with three runs, one stolen base, and one double. That's the most runs she has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Lani Vanderhoof, who went 1-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and one RBI.

Rio Linda was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .375. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Woodland only posted a batting average of .200.

Meanwhile, Natomas fell victim to Dixon and their airtight pitching crew on Tuesday. They might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 22-0 to the Rams, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior.

Rio Linda is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a nice bump to their 17-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.2 runs on average over those games. As for Natomas, their loss dropped their record down to 1-15.

Everything went Rio Linda's way against Natomas when the teams last played back in March, as Rio Linda made off with a 32-0 win. Will the Knights repeat their success, or do the Nighthawks have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.