Softball Preview: Mercy Bears vs. King's Academy Knights
Mercy has been on the road for two straight, but on Thursday they'll finally head home. They will take on the King's Academy Knights at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Mercy is headed into the matchup fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Castilleja a 20-0 shutout on Tuesday. The team's explosion at the plate also rewarded Mercy with their most commanding win of the season.
J Villavicencio made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. Villavicencio has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than five innings every time she's pitched this season. Villavicencio was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances.
In other batting news, A Anderson was a standout: she scored five runs and stole two bases while getting on base in all five of her plate appearances. She has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times she's played. Another player making a difference was G Ortega, who got on base in four of her five plate appearances with two stolen bases, three runs, and four RBI.
Meanwhile, King's Academy made easy work of Notre Dame on Tuesday and carried off a 12-0 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for King's Academy.
The result came thanks to Katia Nesper's shutout, as she gave up just zero hits and racked up eight Ks.
At the plate, Mia Bennette was incredible, going 4-for-4 with a home run, five RBI, and two runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Izzy Barrera, who went 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBI, and a run.
Mercy now has a winning record of 7-6-1. As for King's Academy, their victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 12-2.
Both both teams just can't seem to miss. Mercy has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 11.3 hits per game. However, it's not like King's Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 2.7. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Mercy skirted past King's Academy 8-7 when the teams last played back in May of 2023. Will Mercy repeat their success, or does King's Academy have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
