Softball Preview: Borah Lions vs. Timberline Wolves
The Borah Lions will head out on the road to take on the Timberline Wolves at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Borah is no doubt hoping to put an end to a four-game streak of away losses.
Borah is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Idaho's top teams: Rocky Mountain, who was ranked 14th in their home state at the time (Borah was ranked 19th). Borah sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-1 win over Rocky Mountain on Thursday.
Megan Meracle spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on three hits and racked up 18 Ks. Those 18 strikeouts set a new season-high mark for her.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Abigail Gardner, who went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Rylee Nelson was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, Timberline can now show off nine landslide victories after their most recent contest on Thursday. Everything went their way against Boise as Timberline made off with a 13-6 victory.
Bre Degen made a splash no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out six batters over 5.1 innings while giving up three earned (and two unearned) runs off eight hits. Degen has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances. Degen was even better at the plate, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with a home run and two runs.
In other batting news, Timberline got a massive performance out of Belle Sackett, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Bella Bonacorsi, who went 2-for-4 with four RBI, two runs, and a double.
Borah now has a winning record of 8-7. As for Timberline, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 14-7 record this season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Borah hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like Timberline struggles in that department as they've been averaging 1. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Borah skirted past Timberline 2-1 when the teams last played back in May of 2023. Will Borah repeat their success, or does Timberline have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
