Softball Game Preview: Cardinal Gibbons Crusaders vs. Orange Panthers

The Cardinal Gibbons Crusaders will venture away from home to challenge the Orange Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Orange took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Cardinal Gibbons, who comes in off a win.

While Crusaders fans will have to keep waiting for their team to come home, they shouldn't be too worried about the road trip considering the result of Friday's season opener. They blew past Riverside-Durham 11-1 on Friday. The Crusaders haven't had any issues with the Pirates recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive win against them.

Sophie Cygnarowicz made a big impact no matter where she played. On the mound, she tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Cygnarowicz was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.

Bridget Mazzo

Runs (Career)

02/28/25 @ Riverside-Durham	3
04/24/24 @ Athens Drive	2
04/12/24 vs Leesville Road	2
04/05/24 @ Enloe	2
05/02/24 vs Sanderson	1

In other batting news, Cardinal Gibbons let Bridget Mazzo and Katie Scavone run wild. Mazzo scored three runs while going 3-for-4, while Scavone went 2-for-4 with four RBI, two doubles, and one run. Those three runs gave Mazzo a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Anna Riely, who scored three runs while going 2-for-3.

Cardinal Gibbons was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .375. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Riverside-Durham only posted a batting average of .136.

Meanwhile, Orange didn't have quite enough to beat Southeast Alamance on Monday and fell 12-10.

Allie Carden and Katie Carden did some serious damage despite the final result: Allie scored three runs while going 2-for-3, while Katie scored three runs while going 2-for-3. Kylee Allen was another key player, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.

Cardinal Gibbons suffered a grim 17-2 defeat to Orange in their previous meeting back in March of 2017. Can Cardinal Gibbons avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.