Softball Recap: Empire Extends Winning Streak to Five

Ravens

Margin (Wins)

03/19/26 vs Mesa	21
03/10/26 vs Florence	17
04/02/26 vs Catalina	16
03/20/26 vs Willcox	15
03/06/26 vs Snowflake	14

Empire entered their tilt with Catalina on Thursday with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Trojans a 16-0 shutout. Considering the Ravens have won 11 games by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

Nya Burton made a splash while hitting and pitching. She tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. What's more, she posted two strikeouts, the most she's had since back in March. She was also big at the plate, getting on base in all three of her plate appearances with two RBI, one run, and one double.

In other pitching news, Mia Garcia and Addison Heitholt dominated on the mound. Garcia went 1-for-2 with two runs, one double, and one RBI, while Heitholt pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits.

Back at the plate, Ahna Dhaliwal was incredible, getting on base in all three of her plate appearances with four RBI, two runs, and one triple. Those four RBI gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Lainey Kroeger, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs and one RBI.

Empire was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .692. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .353 or higher in nine consecutive contests.

Empire's win bumped their record up to 15-4. As for Catalina, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 1-10.

We've got plenty of inter-region action coming up soon. Empire is set to challenge their familiar foe Sabino at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Catalina will take on rival Tanque Verde at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday.