Softball Game Preview: Watkins Memorial Warriors vs. Westerville Central Warhawks

The Watkins Memorial Warriors will square off against the Westerville Central Warhawks at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Watkins Memorial is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. Everything went their way against Westerville South as they made off with a 12-2 win. Considering the Warriors have won nine contests by more than six runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

Watkins Memorial got a big performance out of Kyliee Trouten, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one double. Another player making a difference was Marlee Gerhardt, who went 1-for-3 with one triple, two RBI, and one run.

Meanwhile, Westerville Central came tearing into Wednesday's matchup with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.7 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They put the hurt on the Indians with a sharp 14-6 victory.

Watkins Memorial is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 15-10 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.5 runs over those games. As for Westerville Central, their victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-6.

Watkins Memorial took their win against Westerville Central when the teams last played back in May of 2022 by a conclusive 9-1 score. Will the Warriors repeat their success, or do the Warhawks have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.