It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Leander had no problem doing just that on Friday. They walked away with a 5-1 victory over the Smithson Valley Rangers. This was payback for the Lions, who suffered an 8-1 defeat the last time these two teams met.
Kylee Arnold made a big impact no matter where she played. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run over seven innings pitched. Arnold was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with one run and one double.
In other batting news, Aliyah Allen was incredible, going 3-for-4 with three stolen bases, one run, and one double. That's the most stolen bases she has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Rachel Grundei, who went 1-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
Leander hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least five batters in 12 consecutive matches.
Lions
| 05/16/25 vs Smithson Valley | 5-1 |
| 05/01/25 vs Seguin | 9-3 |
| 04/25/25 vs New Braunfels | 3-2 |
| 04/22/25 vs Bastrop | 10-0 |
| 04/17/25 vs Hays | 12-2 |
| + 3 more games |
Leander pushed their record up to 30-10 with the win, which was their eighth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Smithson Valley, their loss ended a 15-game streak of away wins and brought them to 24-3.
Leander will have a chance to go back-to-back against the Rangers: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
