Softball Game Preview: Random Lake Rams vs. Valders Vikings

The Random Lake Rams will head out on the road to square off against the Valders Vikings at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Random Lake fell victim to Mishicot and their airtight pitching crew on Monday. They lost 8-0 to the Indians. The game marked the first time this year in which the Rams were not able to get on the board.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Valders). Everything went their way against Roncalli on Monday as they made off with a 16-1 victory. The result was nothing new for the Vikings, who have now won nine contests by six runs or more so far this season.

Megan Hochkammer made a splash no matter where she played. She didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't tossed less than nine strikeouts in 11 consecutive appearances. She was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with three runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. That's the most runs she has posted since back in April.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Makayla Dallas, who got on base in all five of her plate appearances with one home run, four runs, and three RBI. Those four runs gave her a new career-high. Arianna Hernandez was another key player, going 4-for-5 with two stolen bases, three runs, and two RBI.

Valders always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .585. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Roncalli only posted an OBP of .300.

Valders has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 16-6 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for Random Lake, their defeat dropped their record down to 11-4.

Random Lake took their victory against Valders in their previous meeting back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 12-2 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Rams since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.