Softball Game Preview: West Jefferson Roughriders vs. Upper Arlington Golden Bears

The West Jefferson Roughriders are taking a road trip to take on the Upper Arlington Golden Bears at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (West Jefferson has three straight wins, Upper Arlington has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

West Jefferson's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They blew past Mechanicsburg 10-0. Fans of the Roughriders have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 6+ runs.

Jenna Mannon

Base on Balls Against

04/01/25 @ Mechanicsburg	1
03/27/25 @ Hamilton Township	1
03/25/25 vs Licking Heights	1

Jenna Mannon was a major factor no matter where she played. She didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out 13 over six innings pitched. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one walk any time she's pitched this season. She was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Zoey Brown, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Hailey McBrayer was another key player, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.

West Jefferson kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least 11 hits every time they've taken the field this season.

Meanwhile, Upper Arlington didn't have quite enough to beat Westerville Central on Wednesday and fell 6-5.

Upper Arlington's loss dropped their record down to 1-4. As for West Jefferson, their record is now 3-0.

West Jefferson suffered a grim 18-12 defeat to Upper Arlington in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Can the Roughriders avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.