Softball Preview: West Valley Eagles vs. Shadle Park Highlanders
West Valley is 0-10 against Shadle Park since April of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The West Valley Eagles will be playing in front of their home fans against the Shadle Park Highlanders at 12:00 p.m. One thing working in West Valley's favor is that they have posted big run totals in their last three contests.
Last Tuesday, West Valley suffered a rough 21-11 loss at the hands of Pullman.
Piper Hancock made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Anae Karnitz, who scored two runs while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Shadle Park had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 10 runs), and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They walked away with an 8-3 victory over the Bantams.
Crimson Rice was a major factor no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out nine batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off eight hits. Rice has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances. Rice was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs.
In other batting news, Courtney Brown was incredible, going 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBI. Madi Keon was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 3-for-4.
West Valley's defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 4-8. As for Shadle Park, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season.
West Valley suffered a grim 17-0 defeat to Shadle Park in their previous matchup back in March. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Rice, who didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. Now that West Valley knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
