Softball Game Preview: Piedmont Hills Pirates vs. Pioneer Mustangs

The Piedmont Hills Pirates will challenge the Pioneer Mustangs at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The timing is sure in Piedmont Hills' favor as the squad sits on three straight wins at home while Pioneer has been banged up by 13 consecutive losses on the road dating back to last season.

Piedmont Hills' pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Christopher with a sharp 9-0 win. Considering the Pirates have won 11 matches by more than six runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

Ava Delagrande was a standout: she went 2-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI. Danie Pacheco was another key player, getting on base in two of her four plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base.

Piedmont Hills hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least four batters in five consecutive games.

Meanwhile, after only one run in their last contest, Pioneer made sure to put some runs up on the board against Evergreen Valley on Thursday. The Mustangs blew past the Cougars 15-2. Considering the Mustangs' hitters had been struggling lately, the high-scoring outing was a much-needed turnaround.

Pioneer let Cara Goodrich and Olivia Krump run wild. Goodrich earned three runs and two stolen bases, while Krump went 2-for-3 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run. Those three RBI gave Krump a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Gizelle Ortiz, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.

Piedmont Hills' victory bumped their record up to 15-4. As for Pioneer, their win bumped their record up to 5-12.

Piedmont Hills took their victory against Pioneer in their previous meeting back in March by a conclusive 14-1 score. Do the Pirates have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Mustangs turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.