Softball Game Preview: Mentor Cardinals vs. Jackson Polar Bears

The Mentor Cardinals will square off against the Jackson Polar Bears at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Mentor is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.9 runs per game this season.

Mentor came into their game on Friday off a hard-fought close win, but unfortunately suffered a serious change of fortune. They lost 8-1 to South Range. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest loss the Cardinals have suffered since April 8th.

Mentor saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Aubree Col?n, who went 1-for-3 with one triple and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Jackson waltzed into their matchup on Friday with nine straight wins... but they left with ten. They beat the Bees by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 14-11.

Jackson got a massive performance out of McKenzie Johnson, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, four runs, and two doubles. Another player making a difference was Remi Grooms, who went 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI.

Jackson lost a few balls and finished the game with four home runs. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now launched at least two home runs in four consecutive games.

Jackson's win bumped their record up to 23-4. As for Mentor, their defeat ended an eight-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 19-9.

Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Wednesday. Mentor hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Jackson struggles in that department as they've been averaging 1.2 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.