Softball Game Preview: North Eugene Highlanders vs. South Albany Redhawks

The North Eugene Highlanders will be taking part in a tournament against the South Albany Redhawks at 2:00 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (North Eugene has three straight wins, South Albany has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

North Eugene's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Sunday. They put the hurt on Crescent Valley with a sharp 8-0 victory. The result was nothing new for the Highlanders, who have now won three matches by eight runs or more so far this season.

Gracie Hibler

Batters Struck Out

03/23/25 vs Crescent Valley	10
03/22/25 vs South Albany	3
03/18/25 vs Willamette	0
03/17/25 vs South Eugene	5
05/17/24 @ Churchill	7
+ 4 more games

Not much got past Gracie Hibler, who gave up just two hits and racked up ten Ks to keep Crescent Valley off the board. That's the most strikeouts Hibler has posted since back in April of 2024.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Ella Anderson, who scored a run while going 1-for-4.

Meanwhile, South Albany lost 21-6 to Crescent Valley on Sunday.

Alicia Martindale was cooking despite her team's loss, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Emily Tschida, who scored two runs while going 1-for-2.

South Albany's loss dropped their record down to 0-3. As for North Eugene, their win bumped their record up to 4-1.

South Albany's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: North Eugene has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9.8 hits per game. It's a different story for South Albany, though, as they've been averaging 9.3 hits. Given North Eugene's sizable advantage in that area, South Albany will need to find a way to close that gap.

North Eugene beat South Albany 6-1 in their previous matchup on Saturday. Will North Eugene repeat their success, or does South Albany has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.