Softball Game Preview: Neuqua Valley Wildcats vs. DeKalb Barbs

Neuqua Valley is 8-2 against DeKalb since May of 2021 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Monday. The Wildcats are taking a road trip to square off against the Barbs at 4:30 p.m. Neuqua Valley is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.2 runs per game this season.

Neuqua Valley proved they can win big on Wednesday (they won by ten) and on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Waubonsie Valley a 2-0 shutout. The Wildcats haven't had any issues with the Warriors recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.

Ava Drehs

Batters Struck Out

05/16/25 vs Waubonsie Valley	11
05/14/25 vs Metea Valley	18
05/12/25 @ Naperville Central	6
05/09/25 vs Oswego East	7
05/08/25 vs Naperville Central	12
+ 17 more games

The result came thanks to Ava Drehs's shutout, as she gave up just three hits and racked up 11 Ks. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in 22 consecutive appearances.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Nalia Clifford, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, one triple, and one run. She has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times she's played.

The scorekeeper got an easy start on Saturday as neither DeKalb nor Kaneland made it on the board until the eighth inning. The Barbs fell just short of the Knights by a score of 3-1. The loss continues a trend for the Barbs in their meetings with the Knights: they've now lost five in a row.

Ayla Gould spent all eight innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three earned runs on eight hits and racked up six Ks.

On the hitting side, DeKalb saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Nazeria Dean, who went 1-for-3 with one RBI.

The victory got Neuqua Valley back to even at 14-14. As for DeKalb, their defeat dropped their record down to 15-13.

Neuqua Valley couldn't quite finish off DeKalb in their previous matchup two weeks ago and fell 5-3. Can the Wildcats avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.