Softball Game Preview: Merced Bears vs. Ponderosa Bruins

The Merced Bears will challenge the Ponderosa Bruins at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Merced sitting on six straight victories and Ponderosa on ten.

Merced is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They came out on top against Patterson by a score of 5-1.

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

Maisen Priddell

Runs Batted In (Career)

05/14/25 vs Patterson	3
05/05/25 @ Gregori	2
04/17/25 vs Atwater	2
04/10/25 @ Los Banos	2
04/08/25 @ El Capitan	2

At the plate, Maisen Priddell was excellent, going 2-for-4 with three RBI and two doubles. Those three RBI gave her a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Lillian Gallegos, who went 3-for-4 with two runs.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Ponderosa). Everything went their way against Antelope on Wednesday as they made off with a 20-8 win. The result was nothing new for the Bruins, who have now won 11 games by six runs or more so far this season.

The team relied heavily on Kate McCartney, who fired off three home runs and four RBI while going 3-for-3. Another player making a difference was Bella Adams, who went 3-for-4 with one home run, five RBI, and three runs.

Merced's victory was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 24-4-1. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.2 runs over those games. As for Ponderosa, their victory bumped their record up to 15-8.