The Colton Vikings will take on the Salem Academy Crusaders at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Colton not only won on Friday, but they posted their biggest win since March 26th (when they won 18-3). They put the hurt on Western Christian with a sharp 15-3 victory. The Vikings haven't had any issues with the Pioneers recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive win against them.
Clara Weinberger
| 04/25/25 @ Western Christian | 10 |
| 04/23/25 vs Country Christian | 4 |
| 04/21/25 @ St. Paul | 4 |
| 03/29/25 vs Vernonia | 4 |
| 03/31/25 vs Perrydale | 1 |
Clara Weinberger made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only two hits while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Those ten strikeouts gave her a new career-high. She was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of her five plate appearances with two runs and one RBI.
In other batting news, Colton got a massive performance out of Katelynn Kimsey, who went 2-for-6 with one home run, two stolen bases, and three RBI. Payton Herbison was another key player, getting on base in three of her six plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
Colton kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in three consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Salem Academy waltzed into their game on Friday with four straight wins... but they left with five. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Trojans a 7-0 shutout. Considering the Crusaders have won seven contests by more than six runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Salem Academy pushed their record up to 8-2 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Colton, their victory bumped their record up to 5-8-1.
Colton might still be hurting after the 16-1 loss they got from Salem Academy in their previous meeting on April 11th. Will the Vikings have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
