Softball Preview: La Quinta Blackhawks vs. Palm Desert Aztecs
La Quinta is on a five-game streak of home wins, while Palm Desert is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The La Quinta Blackhawks will take on the Palm Desert Aztecs at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Two weeks ago, La Quinta got themselves on the board against Xavier Prep, but Xavier Prep never followed suit. They beat the Saints by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 5-0.
Abbygail Varela tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and only two hits while striking out eight over 6.1 innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in five consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Lauren Mauer was incredible, going 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs, and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Mia Deniz, who went 1-for-3 with a triple and a run.
Meanwhile, Palm Desert can now show off nine landslide victories after their most recent contest on Monday. They blew past Xavier Prep 9-0. Give Palm Desert's pitching crew some credit: that's the team's third straight shutout.
Alexandra Aguilar made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits (she also only allowed one walk). Aguilar was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, Camila Ramirez was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-2. Sidney Sherrod was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 1-for-3.
La Quinta has been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 12-8 record this season. As for Palm Desert, their win bumped their record up to 13-9.
Thursday's game will be a test for both team's pitchers. La Quinta hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .343. However, it's not like Palm Desert struggles in that department as they've averaged .359. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
La Quinta couldn't quite finish off Palm Desert in their previous meeting back in March and fell 5-3. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Palm Desert's Natalie Rey, who struck out eight batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off eight hits (and only one walk). Now that La Quinta knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
