The Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders will take on the Middletown Middie Bears at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Monroe-Woodbury 3.7, Middletown 3) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Monroe-Woodbury came out on top against Newburgh Free Academy on Wednesday thanks in part to the team's impressive six-run fourth inning. The Crusaders took their match against the Goldbacks 9-5.
Isabella Brelesky made a big impact no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out nine batters over seven innings while giving up five earned runs off nine hits. Brelesky was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with one home run and two runs. That home run was her first of the season.
Cori Exarchakis
| 04/23/25 @ Newburgh Free Academy | 1 |
| 04/16/25 vs Pine Bush | 1 |
| 04/11/25 @ Kingston | 1 |
In other batting news, Monroe-Woodbury let Emily O'Brien and Cori Exarchakis run wild. O'Brien went 3-for-4 with two RBI, one run, and one double, while Exarchakis went 1-for-4 with one home run and two RBI. Exarchakis has been hot recently, having posted at least one home run the last three times she's played. Another player making a difference was Callie Exarchakis, who went 1-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
Monroe-Woodbury kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least ten hits in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, after soaring to 11 runs the game before, Middletown was a bit more limited in their game on Wednesday. They fell just short of Minisink Valley by a score of 2-1. The matchup marked the Middie Bears' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.
Middletown saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Gabriella Diaz, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one double.
Monroe-Woodbury pushed their record up to 5-1 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Middletown, their loss dropped their record down to 3-2.
Middletown's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Monroe-Woodbury hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .365. It's a different story for Middletown, though, as they've only averaged .246. Will they be able to contain Monroe-Woodbury's hitters? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more softball content.
