The Brighton Bengals will face off against the Maple Mountain Golden Eagles at 3:30 p.m. on Monday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Brighton's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. Everything went their way against Highland as Brighton made off with a 16-0 win. The victory continues a trend for the Bengals in their matchups with the Rams: they've now won four in a row.
Alison Nikolaus was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out ten over four innings pitched. Nikolaus was also solid in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3. That's the most runs she has posted since back in April of 2024.
Kate Gunn
| 03/27/25 vs Highland | 2 |
| 03/25/25 vs Farmington | 1 |
| 03/15/25 vs Blackfoot | 1 |
| 03/15/25 vs Madison | 1 |
| 03/12/25 @ Skyline | 1 |
In other batting news, Brighton got a massive performance out of Kate Gunn, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Those two RBI gave Gunn a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Peyten Bowers, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI, one triple, and one run.
Brighton always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .667. They are a perfect 4-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Maple Mountain, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Timpview on Thursday as Maple Mountain made off with an 11-1 win. While the Golden Eagles didn't have the best season last year (they finished 11-15), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
Carly Erickson made a splash no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out eight batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (and only one walk). She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, Gracie Jensen and Daphnee Pagano did most of the damage at the plate: Jensen scored a run while going 3-for-3, while Pagano scored two runs while going 2-for-2. McClain Carter was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
Maple Mountain pushed their record up to 9-2 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Brighton, the victory got them back to even at 5-5.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Monday. Brighton hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Maple Mountain struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 1.4 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Brighton might still be hurting after the 12-2 defeat they got from Maple Mountain in their previous matchup back in May of 2018. Will Brighton 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.
