Softball Game Preview: Sunrise Mountain Mustangs vs. Willow Canyon Wildcats

For the second straight game, Sunrise Mountain will face off against Willow Canyon. Sunrise Mountain will venture away from home to take on Willow Canyon at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. Sunrise Mountain is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9.5 runs per game this season.

Sunrise Mountain made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Willow Canyon, but they still couldn't quite topple them. Sunrise Mountain was the clear victor by a 17-11 margin over Willow Canyon on Tuesday. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Mustangs considering their one-run performance the contest before.

Violet Eisentraut

Hits (Career)

03/25/25 vs Willow Canyon	4
03/04/25 vs Paradise Valley	3
02/27/25 vs Ironwood	3
03/15/25 vs Gila Ridge	2
03/13/25 vs Maricopa	2

Violet Eisentraut made a splash while hitting and pitching. She pitched 2.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off three hits. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances. She was even better at the plate, scoring three runs while going 4-for-5. Those four hits gave her a new career-high.

In other batting news, Brooke Hoffman was a standout: she went 2-for-4 with four RBI, one run, and one double. Those four RBI gave her a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Mckenna Morgan, who went 2-for-4 with three runs, one triple, and two RBI.

Sunrise Mountain kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 20 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in three consecutive games.

Sunrise Mountain is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-5 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. Willow Canyon's defeat dropped their record down to 7-6-1.

Willow Canyon's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Sunrise Mountain has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 11.6 hits per game. It's a different story for Willow Canyon, though, as they've been averaging 9.2 hits. Given Sunrise Mountain's sizable advantage in that area, Willow Canyon will need to find a way to close that gap. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.