Softball Game Preview: Madison Patriots vs. Mountain Heritage Cougars

The Madison Patriots will head out to face off against the Mountain Heritage Cougars at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Madison has four straight victories, Mountain Heritage has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Madison's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They blew past Mountain Heritage 10-0. The Patriots might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four games by ten runs or more this season.

Carrie Gunter

Batters Struck Out

03/18/25 vs Mountain Heritage	6
03/12/25 vs North Buncombe	5
03/11/25 vs Avery County	7
03/03/25 vs A.C. Reynolds	5

Carrie Gunter made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out six over six innings pitched. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in four consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 1-for-3.

In other batting news, Kylee Ball was incredible, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with one home run, three runs, and two RBI. That home run was her first of the season. Another player making a difference was Paige Peek, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4.

Madison 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 11 hits in four consecutive contests.

Madison's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 4-2. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Mountain Heritage, their loss dropped their record down to 0-4.

Mountain Heritage's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Madison hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .382. It's a different story for Mountain Heritage, though, as they've only averaged .212. Will they be able to contain Madison's hitters? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.