The River Valley Falcons will face off against the East Nicolaus Spartans at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. River Valley will be strutting in after a victory while East Nicolaus will be coming in after a loss.
River Valley is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They blew past Nevada Union 14-5 on Thursday. The result was nothing new for the Falcons, who have now won six games by six runs or more so far this season.
Apple Ward spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered five earned runs on nine hits and racked up 11 Ks.
At the plate, River Valley got a massive performance out of Kaitlyn Garcia, who scored three runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of her five plate appearances. That's the most stolen bases Garcia has posted since back in April of 2024. Ainsley Holley was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, East Nicolaus fought the good fight in their extra-innings matchup against Inderkum on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Tigers by a score of 5-4. That's two games in a row now that the Spartans have lost by just one run.
Stevie Knight put in work while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out 14 batters over nine innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off eight hits (and only one walk). She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than two walks in ten consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with one double and one RBI.
In other batting news, Lela DeCecco and Makinze Massey did some serious damage despite the final result: DeCecco scored two runs while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances, while Massey scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-4.
River Valley's win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 11-8. Those road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.0 runs over those games. As for East Nicolaus, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 10-3.
River Valley couldn't quite get it done against East Nicolaus in their previous matchup back in March of 2024 as they fell 4-1. Will the Falcons have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
