Softball Game Preview: Desert Hills Thunder vs. Cedar Reds

For the second straight game, Desert Hills will face off against Cedar. The Thunder will head out on the road to square off against the Reds at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. Desert Hills will be looking to extend their current 14-game winning streak.

Desert Hills is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Utah's top teams: Cedar, who was ranked 19th at the time (Desert Hills was ranked sixth). The Thunder had just enough and edged out the Reds 3-2.

Lulu West spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on three hits and racked up ten Ks.

On the hitting side, Desert Hills' win was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Payten Benson, who went 1-for-2 with one double.

Desert Hills pushed their record up to 18-1 with the victory, which was their ninth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.1 runs on average over those games. As for Cedar, their defeat ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 16-4.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Desert Hills has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Cedar struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.