Softball Preview: North Creek Jaguars vs. Redmond Mustangs
North Creek is 1-7 against Redmond since March of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The North Creek Jaguars will head out on the road to face off against the Redmond Mustangs at 5:00 p.m. North Creek is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9.2 runs per game this season.
North Creek is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Washington's top teams: Bothell, who was ranked seventh in their home state at the time (North Creek was ranked 18th). North Creek skirted past Bothell 5-4.
Reagan Fleming spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered four earned runs on eight hits.
At the plate, North Creek saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jackey Boschee, who scored two runs while going 3-for-3. Another player making a difference was Emma Gochenour, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Meanwhile, it was a hard-fought match, but Redmond had to settle for a 20-19 loss against Inglemoor on Wednesday. Redmond has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Kati Cygan led a balanced group of hitters, going 3-for-5 with a home run, five RBI, and three runs. She is on a roll when it comes to hits, as she's now hit three or more in the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Maggie Enich, who scored four runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-5.
Even though they lost, Redmond kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 23 hits. That's the most hits they've managed all season.
North Creek pushed their record up to 15-5 with that victory, which was their fourth straight at home. As for Redmond, their defeat ended a five-game streak of away wins and brought them to 11-8.
Redmond's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: North Creek has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9.9 hits per game. It's a different story for Redmond, though, as they've been averaging 8.8. Given North Creek's sizable advantage in that area, Redmond will need to find a way to close that gap.
North Creek came up short against Redmond in their previous matchup back in April, falling 7-2. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Redmond's Ainsley Barcalow, who pitched seven innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits. Now that North Creek knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
