Softball Game Preview: Foothill Falcons vs. Alameda Hornets

The Foothill Falcons will venture away from home to challenge the Alameda Hornets at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Foothill is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9 runs per game this season.

Foothill is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Everything went their way against Mt. Diablo on Wednesday as Foothill made off with an 18-1 victory. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest win of the season.

Avana Vangipuram

Batters Struck Out (Career)

03/05/25 @ Mt. Diablo	6
03/19/24 vs Dublin	2
03/07/24 @ Freedom	2
03/04/24 vs Castro Valley	2
03/26/24 vs Amador Valley	1

Avana Vangipuram was a major factor no matter where she played. She struck out six batters over four innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (and not a single walk). Those six strikeouts gave her a new career-high. She was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 3-for-3.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Kaia Pentony, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. Jordan McCafferty also deserves some recognition as she scored her first run of the season.

Foothill always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .744. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, Alameda lost 8-2 to San Ramon Valley on Tuesday.

Alameda saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Miley Gradney, who went 3-for-4 with one RBI.

Alameda's defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 1-1. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.3 runs on average over those games. As for Foothill, they pushed their record up to 3-0-1 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road.

Foothill skirted past Alameda 5-4 in their previous matchup back in March of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Foothill since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.