The Highlands Bluebirds will challenge the New Richmond Lions at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Highlands will be looking to extend their current seven-game winning streak.
Highlands is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They were the clear victors by a 19-3 margin over Bellevue on Wednesday. The Bluebirds might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven matches by six runs or more this season.
The team relied heavily on Kaitlyn Dixon, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-1. The team also got some help courtesy of Morgan Pompilio, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-1.
Highlands always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .688. The last time their OBP was this high was back in April of 2024.
Meanwhile, New Richmond got the win against Batavia last Wednesday by a conclusive 23-3. With that victory, the Lions brought their scoring average up to 8.8 runs per game.
Izzie Carroll made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, pitching five innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off two hits. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up a single walk any time she's pitched this season. She was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-4. Those three runs gave her a new career-high.
In other batting news, Piper Willis was a standout: she scored four runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-5. That's the most runs she has posted since back in April of 2024. Gracie Seibert was another key player, scoring four runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-5.
Highlands pushed their record up to 14-5-1 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs over those games. As for New Richmond, they now have a winning record of 3-2.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Highlands hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.4 home runs per game. However, it's not like New Richmond struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.4 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
