Chaparral is 1-9 against Desert Mountain since April of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Monday. The Firebirds will be playing in front of their home fans against the Wolves at 6:00 p.m. Chaparral is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.9 runs per game this season.
Chaparral's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They put the hurt on Saguaro with a sharp 10-0 victory. The Firebirds haven't had any issues with the Sabercats recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive win against them.
Makenzie Leathers made a splash no matter where she played. She didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits over five innings pitched. She has been consistent : she hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances. She was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with one home run and two runs.
Parker Liano
| 04/04/25 vs Saguaro | 3 |
| 03/15/25 vs Verrado | 2 |
| 04/17/24 @ Youngker | 2 |
| 04/11/24 vs Mountain Pointe | 2 |
| 03/27/25 vs McClintock | 1 |
In other batting news, Parker Liano was a standout: she scored a run while going 2-for-3. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in RBI (three). Another player making a difference was Ava Stallone, who scored two runs while going 3-for-3.
Chaparral always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .577. They are 5-1 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.
Meanwhile, Desert Mountain had already won 12 in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7 runs) and they went ahead and made it 13 on Friday. They skirted past the Eagles 3-1.
Lilly 'Goose' Goodwin spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered a run (which was unearned) on four hits and racked up 13 Ks.
On the hitting side, Desert Mountain saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Zoe Horning, who scored a run while going 1-for-3. McKinsey Beyer was another, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
Desert Mountain's victory was their 14th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 16-1-1. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.2 runs on average over those games. As for Chaparral, their victory bumped their record up to 10-11.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Monday. Chaparral hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Desert Mountain struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.8 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other softball content.
