Softball Preview: West Ranch Wildcats vs. Quartz Hill Royals
The West Ranch Wildcats will look to defend their home field on Friday against the Quartz Hill Royals at 5:00 p.m. Both teams are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.
Having struggled with four defeats in a row, West Ranch finally turned things around against Vasquez on Thursday. West Ranch blew past Vasquez 14-1. The high-scoring performance was a welcome turnaround for West Ranch's hitters, who had struggled in the games prior.
West Ranch got a great performance from Alyse Nodal as she didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Krista Viereck, who fired off two home runs, five RBI, and three runs while going 4-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Payton Borland, who got on base in all four of her plate appearances with a home run, three runs, and two RBI.
Meanwhile, Quartz Hill had already won 13 in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 10.8 runs), and they went ahead and made it 14 on Thursday. They beat the Antelopes by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 16-0. The result was nothing new for Quartz Hill, who have now won 13 matches by seven runs or more so far this season.
Kaylei Victoria made a big impact no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, tossing three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Victoria has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in four consecutive pitching appearances. Victoria was also stellar in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with five RBI, a triple, and a run.
In other batting news, Quartz Hill let Skyler Billips and Aubrey Russell loose on the outfield. Billips went 2-for-2 with a triple and two RBI, while Russell scored two runs while going 2-for-3. Kaylee Moreno was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 1-for-3.
West Ranch's win bumped their record up to 10-11. As for Quartz Hill, they pushed their record up to 17-4 with that victory, which was their eighth straight at home.
West Ranch came out on top in a nail-biter against Quartz Hill in their previous meeting back in February, sneaking past 5-4. Does West Ranch have another victory up their sleeve, or will Quartz Hill turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
