Softball Game Preview: Western Albemarle Warriors vs. Albemarle Patriots

The Western Albemarle Warriors will venture away from home to take on the Albemarle Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Western Albemarle is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.6 runs per game this season.

Western Albemarle will roll into the matchup after a wild two-game stretch: they didn't score any runs on Monday, then bounced right back against Charlottesville on Tuesday. The Warriors blew past the Black Knights 10-0. Considering the Warriors have won five games by more than nine runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.

Ava Hardy

Runs (Career)

05/20/25 vs Charlottesville	4
04/17/25 @ Goochland	3
03/25/25 vs Rocktown	3
05/13/24 vs Madison County	2
04/24/24 @ Albemarle	2

The team relied heavily on Ava Hardy, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with four runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. Those four runs gave her a new career-high. Peyton Abell also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen base of the season.

Meanwhile, Albemarle was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their 11th straight defeat. They came up short against Louisa County, falling 10-0. That's two games in a row now that the Patriots have lost by exactly ten runs.

Western Albemarle is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-6 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.5 runs on average over those games. As for Albemarle, their loss dropped their record down to 2-16.

Albemarle's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Western Albemarle hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .313. It's a different story for Albemarle, though, as they've only averaged .189. Will they be able to contain Western Albemarle's hitters?

Everything went Western Albemarle's way against Albemarle in their previous meeting back in April, as Western Albemarle made off with a 10-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Warriors since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.