The Stafford Spartans will head out to square off against the Almeta Crawford Chargers at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Stafford will roll into the match after a wild two-game stretch: they didn't score any runs on Friday, then bounced right back against La Marque on Tuesday. The Spartans put the hurt on the Cougars with a sharp 18-3 victory.
Jovaughna Mendez made a big impact no matter where she played. She didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out nine over seven innings pitched. Mendez was also big at the plate, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-5.
Noehli Torres
| 04/08/25 @ La Marque | 4 |
| 03/25/25 vs Almeta Crawford | 3 |
| 02/28/25 vs Alief Elsik | 3 |
| 03/21/25 vs La Marque | 2 |
| 02/15/25 vs Fort Bend Bush | 2 |
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Noehli Torres, who fired off four stolen bases, three triples, and three runs while going 4-for-5. Those four hits gave her a new career-high. Kaelyn Whitaker was another key player, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 4-for-4.
Stafford kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 19 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 3.9 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 contests they've averaged 9.6.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Almeta Crawford). Everything went their way against Royal on Tuesday as they made off with a 26-8 win. With that victory, the Chargers brought their scoring average up to 7.3 runs per game.
Maya Hanks was incredible, scoring five runs and stealing three bases while getting on base in all five of her plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Kylie Remington, who scored four runs and stole five bases while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances.
Stafford has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a nice bump to their 11-7-1 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.8 runs on average over those games. As for Almeta Crawford, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 6-6.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Stafford has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.6 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Almeta Crawford struggles in that department as they've been averaging 4.9 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Everything went Stafford's way against Almeta Crawford when the teams last played back in March, as Stafford made off with a 14-4 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Spartans since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
