The Cardinal Newman Cardinals will face off against the Benicia Panthers at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Cardinal Newman comes in on 13 and Benicia on three.
Cardinal Newman is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Newark Memorial a 10-0 shutout. The result was nothing new for the Cardinals, who have now won 13 contests by seven runs or more so far this season.
Nobody will forget Callie Howard's heroic performance anytime soon (especially Newark Memorial's batters): she turned in a perfect game. Howard has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in nine consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Jordyn Johnsen, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. She also put up a triple, which was her first of the season. Nicole DiMarco was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and one double.
Cardinal Newman was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .444. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .444 or higher in four consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Benicia was able to grind out a solid victory over Petaluma on Friday, taking the game 3-0.
The result came thanks to Alana Robinson's shutout, as she gave up just three hits and racked up seven Ks.
On the hitting side, Ava Rojas was excellent, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
Cardinal Newman's win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-6. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.1 runs on average over those games. As for Benicia, their win bumped their record up to 16-10.
Cardinal Newman came up short against Benicia in their previous meeting back in March, falling 3-0. Will the Cardinals have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other softball content.
