Softball Game Preview: Cranston West Falcons vs. Smithfield Sentinels

Cranston West is 8-2 against Smithfield since April of 2015 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Sunday. The Falcons will host the Sentinels at 5:00 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Cranston West 3.5, Smithfield 3.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Cranston West is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Rhode Island's top teams: La Salle Academy, who was ranked first at the time (Cranston West was ranked fourth). The Falcons came up short against the Rams on Thursday, falling 12-0. The pitching woes were uncharacteristic for the Falcons, who until this match were averaging 3.52 runs allowed.

Siena Nardelli

Stolen Base

05/29/25 @ La Salle Academy	1
05/27/25 vs Prout	1
05/19/25 vs Pilgrim	1

Cranston West saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Siena Nardelli, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base. Nardelli has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times she's played.

Meanwhile, it may have taken nine innings to finish the job, but Smithfield ultimately got the result they hoped for on Friday. They came out on top against Coventry by a score of 2-1 (the very same score they lost by in their prior game).

Crystal Cacador made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out 11 batters over nine innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Cacador was also solid in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with one RBI.

Cranston West's loss dropped their record down to 13-8. As for Smithfield, their victory bumped their record up to 13-7.

Everything went Cranston West's way against Smithfield when the teams last played back in April of 2024, as Cranston West made off with an 11-1 win. Will the Falcons repeat their success, or do the Sentinels have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.