Softball Game Preview: Melrose Dutchmen vs. B O L D Warriors

Melrose has gone 8-2 against B O L D recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Monday. The Dutchmen will take on the Warriors at 5:00 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Melrose comes in on 11 and B O L D on five.

Melrose can't be too worried about heading out to take on B O L D: they just beat Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta at home, who had been dominant on their own field up to that point. The Dutchmen came out on top against the Tigers by a score of 5-2 on Thursday.

Ellie Grieve spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on three hits. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Melrose let Allie Hoppe and Shantel Gruber run wild. Hoppe went 2-for-3 with one home run, while Gruber went 2-for-3 with three RBI, one triple, and one run. Those three RBI gave Gruber a new career-high.

Meanwhile, B O L D never let their opponents score on Friday. They walked away with a 5-0 victory over Minnewaska Area.

Melrose pushed their record up to 11-0 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.4 runs on average over those games. As for B O L D, their record is now 9-3.

Melrose came out on top in a nail-biter against B O L D in their previous meeting back in April, sneaking past 3-2. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Dutchmen since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.