Softball Preview: Rensselaer Central Bombers vs. Kankakee Valley Kougars
Rensselaer Central is 0-6 against Kankakee Valley since May of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The Rensselaer Central Bombers are on the road again to play the Kankakee Valley Kougars at 10:00 a.m. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Rensselaer Central is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They never let Tippecanoe Valley onto the board and left with a 4-0 victory.
Not much got past Kali Northcutt, who gave up just three hits to keep Tippecanoe Valley off the board. Northcutt has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than seven innings in four consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Rensselaer Central saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Stacia Crabtree, who went 1-for-3 with a home run. Brynn Hannon was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, in what's become a running theme this season, Kankakee Valley gave their fans yet another huge win on Thursday. Everything went their way against Culver Academies as Kankakee Valley made off with a 13-0 victory. Winning may never get old, but Kankakee Valley sure is getting used to it with their fourth in a row.
Kankakee Valley also got a great performance from Elyse Starr as she didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out six over five innings pitched.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Emily Erb, who went 2-for-2 with three RBI, two runs, and a triple. Another player making a difference was Sara Erb, who went 1-for-1 with two RBI and a double.
Rensselaer Central has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-9 record this season. As for Kankakee Valley, they now have a winning record of 14-13.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Saturday. Rensselaer Central hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Kankakee Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Rensselaer Central suffered a grim 16-1 defeat to Kankakee Valley in their previous matchup back in May of 2023. Can Rensselaer Central avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
