Softball Preview: Wamego Red Raiders vs. Abilene Cowboys
Wamego is 9-1 against Abilene since May of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Wamego Red Raiders will be playing at home against the Abilene Cowboys at 4:30 p.m. Wamego will be looking to keep their three-game home win streak alive.
Wamego is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Kansas' top teams: Rossville, who was ranked tenth in their home state at the time (Wamego was ranked first). Wamego fell just short of Rossville by a score of 2-0 on Monday. The match marked the first time this season in which Wamego was not able to get on the board.
Meanwhile, Abilene put the finishing touches on their sixth blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Chapman as Abilene made off with a 16-3 win. Abilene's victory was all the more impressive since Chapman was averaging only 2.43 runs allowed on the season.
Brooklyn Haaga made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run over five innings pitched. Haaga has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in eight consecutive pitching appearances. Haaga was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-5 with two RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Maddie Murray, who fired off two home runs, four RBI, and a double while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Tailyn Needham, who scored three runs while going 3-for-4.
Wamego's defeat ended a 19-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 15-2. As for Abilene, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a massive bump to their 13-7 record this season.
Wamego took their win against Abilene in their previous meeting back in May of 2023 by a conclusive 14-4. Will Wamego repeat their success, or does Abilene have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
