Softball Game Preview: Pender Patriots vs. Wallace-Rose Hill Bulldogs

The Pender Patriots will venture away from home to take on the Wallace-Rose Hill Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Wallace-Rose Hill will be up against a hot Pender squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. The Patriots never let West Columbus get on the board and left with a 14-0 victory on Wednesday.

Alyna Rooks

Runs (Career)

04/16/25 @ West Columbus	3
04/23/24 @ West Columbus	2
04/24/24 vs West Columbus	1
03/18/24 vs Hobbton	1
03/11/24 @ Hobbton	1

Alyna Rooks made a splash no matter where she played. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 15 consecutive appearances. She was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with one home run, five RBI, and three runs. Those three runs gave her a new career-high.

In other batting news, Pender let Charleigh Rivenbark and Kenyatta Jacobs run wild. Rivenbark went a perfect 3-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run, while Jacobs scored two runs while going 2-for-3. That's the most hits Rivenbark has posted since back in April of 2024. Another player making a difference was Katie Iddings, who scored two runs while going 2-for-2.

Pender kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 13 hits. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their hit total in three consecutive contests.

16 must be Wallace-Rose Hill's lucky number: they beat Kinston with that score not once but twice on Tuesday. The Bulldogs blew past the Vikings 16-0. The Bulldogs haven't had any issues with the Vikings recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive win against them.

Wallace-Rose Hill pushed their record up to 6-10 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Pender, their record now sits at 13-5.

Everything went Pender's way against Wallace-Rose Hill in their previous matchup back in March, as Pender made off with a 17-7 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Patriots since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.