The Desert Ridge Jaguars will head out to challenge the Queen Creek Bulldogs at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday. Desert Ridge has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the match with three straight losses, while Queen Creek will come in with 11 straight victories.
On Thursday, Desert Ridge came up short against Highland and fell 11-7.
Jacee Larson and Brooklyn Parks stepped up to the plate in a big way. Larson got on base in four of her five plate appearances with two runs, one double, and one RBI, while Parks went 2-for-4 with one home run and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Brooklyn Johnson, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Queen Creek owes their pitching crew a big pat on the back after their performance on Thursday. They put the hurt on Williams Field with a sharp 8-0 win. Considering the Bulldogs have won 15 contests by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Annalise Jensen looked comfortable as she tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in strikeouts (four).
At the plate, Emma Reynolds was incredible, going 3-for-4 with three runs, one triple, and one RBI. Charli Dixon was another key player, going a perfect 2-for-2 with one run.
Queen Creek pushed their record up to 20-5 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.4 runs on average over those games. As for Desert Ridge, their defeat dropped their record down to 16-9.
Tuesday's game will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Desert Ridge hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .403. However, it's not like Queen Creek struggles in that department as they've averaged .386. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Desert Ridge couldn't quite get it done against Queen Creek in their previous meeting back in April of 2024 as they fell 8-3. Can the Jaguars avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
