The Widefield Gladiators will be staying on the road on Sunday to face off against the Palmer Ridge Bears at 10:00 a.m. Widefield is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 12 runs per game this season.
Widefield will head into Friday's match after some sweet revenge against Falcon: Widefield couldn't quite topple Falcon on Friday, but it was still a huge improvement compared to the ten-run defeat they took when the two last played. Widefield put the hurt on Falcon with a sharp 15-5 victory. Considering the Gladiators have won 17 contests by more than six runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Taylor Hall was a standout: she went 3-for-5 with a home run, two runs, and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Evelyn Ibarra, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-3.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Widefield was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .548. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Falcon only posted a batting average of .348.
Meanwhile, Palmer Ridge faced D'Evelyn in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. Palmer Ridge fell just short of D'Evelyn by a score of 6-4. The Bears' loss signaled the end of their five-game winning streak.
Ashlyn Short spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered five earned (and one unearned) runs on 11 hits and racked up 11 Ks. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in strikeouts.
On the hitting side, Kayleigh Garcia made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs, and a triple. The team also got some help courtesy of Corinna Arellano, who went 2-for-4 with a home run and a double.
Widefield is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 19-6 record this season. As for Palmer Ridge, their defeat dropped their record down to 19-4-1.
Sunday's matchup will be a test for both team's pitchers. Widefield hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of 0. However, it's not like Palmer Ridge struggles in that department as they've averaged 0. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Everything went Widefield's way against Palmer Ridge when the teams last played back in September of 2019, as Widefield made off with a 16-0 win. Will Widefield repeat their success, or does Palmer Ridge have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
