Softball Game Preview: St. John's Cadets vs. Paul VI Panthers

The St. John's Cadets will take on the Paul VI Panthers at 3:00 p.m. on Monday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: St. John's has struggled recently with four defeats in a row, while Paul VI will arrive with four straight wins.

Last Tuesday, St. John's didn't have quite enough to beat Our Lady of Good Counsel and fell 6-5.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Paul VI faced off against Blanchester on Thursday. The Panthers were the clear victors by a 13-3 margin over the Wildcats. The Panthers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 11 contests by six runs or more this season.

Giovanna Gottfried was a major factor no matter where she played. She pitched 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in nine consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 1-for-2 with two RBI. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in March.

In other batting news, Alex Berg was a standout: she got on base in four of her five plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI. She has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Presley Gatlin, who got on base in all three of her plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and one double.

Paul VI always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .621. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Blanchester only posted an OBP of .444.

St. John's loss dropped their record down to 2-5. As for Paul VI, their victory bumped their record up to 13-1.