Softball Recap: Merkel Wins Going Away Against Grape Creek

Merkel's found some homefield redemption this week after a overtime loss to Sweetwater on Tuesday. The Merkel Badgers blew past the Grape Creek Eagles 16-1. The game marked the Badgers' most dominant victory of the season so far.

Merkel got a massive performance out of Kindsey Rich, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with six RBI, two runs, and one stolen base. The dominant performance gave Rich a new career-high in RBI. Another player making a difference was Bailey Smith, who went 3-for-4 with one triple, one stolen base, and two RBI.

Rich wasn't the only one working in the hit department: Merkel kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 13 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in three consecutive matches.

Merkel's win was their first in the district, bumping their district record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 3-4. As for Grape Creek, they dropped their record down to 0-3 with the loss, which was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season.

Looking ahead, Merkel will look to defend their home field on Thursday against Brownwood at 11:00 a.m. Merkel knows how to get runs on the board -- the squad has finished with ten runs or more in their past three contests -- so hopefully Brownwood likes a good challenge. As for Grape Creek, they will head out to challenge Lake View at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.