Softball Game Preview: Independence Patriots vs. Ironwood Eagles

The Independence Patriots will challenge the Ironwood Eagles at 3:45 p.m. on Monday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Independence's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They put the hurt on Central with a sharp 14-0 win.

Nailea Lopez Flores was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out eight over five innings pitched. Lopez Flores was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-4. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in doubles (two).

Mariana Perez Vargas

Runs (Career)

04/10/25 @ Central	4
04/03/25 @ Washington	3
04/01/25 vs Washington	3
03/05/25 vs North Canyon	3
04/16/24 @ Washington	2

In other batting news, Mariana Perez Vargas was a standout: she went 1-for-3 with four runs, one triple, and one RBI. Those four runs gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Genevieve De La Cruz, who went 3-for-4 with one triple, two RBI, and one run.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Ironwood, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Wednesday. Everything went their way against Cactus on Friday as they made off with a 12-2 victory.

The team relied heavily on Serenity Meyer, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3. Addison Monahan was another key player, scoring two runs while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.

Independence's win bumped their record up to 9-2. As for Ironwood, their victory bumped their record up to 8-11.

Ironwood's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Monday. Independence has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.6 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Ironwood, though, as they've been averaging only 3.4 strikeouts. Will Independence keep running through batters, or will the Eagles buck the trend? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more softball content.