Baseball Preview: Palo Verde Valley Yellow Jackets vs. Needles Mustangs
The Palo Verde Valley Yellow Jackets will be playing at home against the Needles Mustangs at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Palo Verde Valley has struggled recently with three defeats in a row, while Needles will arrive with four straight victories.
Last Thursday, Palo Verde Valley fell victim to a tough 9-1 loss at the hands of Valley Center.
Meanwhile, Needles put the finishing touches on their 11th blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. They never let Laughlin onto the board and left with a 16-0 win. Give Needles' pitching crew some credit: that's the team's fourth straight shutout.
Talon Paget made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and only one walk). Paget has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two hits in four consecutive pitching appearances. Paget was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-2.
In other batting news, Hudson Smith was a standout: he scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-2. Collin Smith was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-3.
Palo Verde Valley's defeat dropped their record down to 6-8-1. As for Needles, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matches, which provided a nice bump to their 13-5 record this season.
Tuesday's matchup might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Palo Verde Valley has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .437. However, it's not like Needles struggles in that department as they've averaged .497. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Palo Verde Valley came up short against Needles in their previous matchup back in March, falling 8-5. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Needles' Logan Parker, who struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned run off one hit (and only one walk). Now that Palo Verde Valley knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
