The King's Academy Knights will challenge the Branham Bruins at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. King's Academy will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each contest than the last.
King's Academy's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They walked away with a 4-0 victory over Woodside.
Not much got past Katia Nesper, who gave up just a hit and racked up 14 Ks to keep Woodside off the board. Nesper has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two hits in nine consecutive appearances.
At the plate, King's Academy's win was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Mia Bennette, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI. That's the most RBI Bennette has posted since back in April.
Meanwhile, Branham got the win against Leigh on Thursday by a conclusive 7-1.
Jacque Connolly - Hojas was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She didn't allow a single earned run over seven innings pitched. Connolly - Hojas was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with one double and one RBI.
In other batting news, CC Bonnard was excellent, going 2-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double. Another player making a difference was Jaslene Soliz, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
Branham's victory bumped their record up to 10-11. As for King's Academy, their win bumped their record up to 11-7.
Branham's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Friday. King's Academy has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.5 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Branham, though, as they've been averaging an even more impressive 4.1 strikeouts. Will King's Academy keep running through batters, or will the Bruins buck the trend?
King's Academy couldn't quite finish off Branham in their previous matchup back in March of 2023 and fell 5-3. Will the Knights have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other softball content.
