Softball Game Preview: Rockwood Rockets vs. Blacklick Valley Vikings

The Rockwood Rockets will face off against the Blacklick Valley Vikings at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Rockwood will be strutting in after a victory while Blacklick Valley will be coming in after a defeat.

While Rockwood's win against North Star wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Rockets skirted past the Cougars 5-4. The Rockets haven't had any issues with the Cougars recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive victory against them.

Sydney Beals spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three earned (and one unearned) runs on seven hits and racked up nine Ks.

At the plate, Miley Pletcher was incredible, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run and one double. Another player making a difference was Paelyn Sanner, who went 3-for-4 with one home run and one double.

They weren't the only ones working in the home run department: Rockwood lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. That's the most home runs they've posted since back in April of 2024.

Meanwhile, Blacklick Valley didn't have quite enough to beat Bishop Carroll on Wednesday and fell 17-16. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Tuesday (13), the Vikings still had to take the loss.

Blacklick Valley's loss dropped their record down to 4-11. As for Rockwood, their win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-6 and their overall record up to 5-11.

Everything went Rockwood's way against Blacklick Valley when the teams last played back in April of 2024, as Rockwood made off with a 17-1 victory. Do the Rockets have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Vikings turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.