The Desert Mountain Wolves will head out on the road to challenge the Horizon Huskies at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Desert Mountain sitting on three straight wins and Horizon on five.
In Thursday's Canine Competition, Desert Mountain came out on top. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Campo Verde 6-4.
Zach Durben
| 04/15/25 vs Arizona College Prep | 5 |
| 03/10/25 vs Saguaro | 3 |
| 04/09/25 @ Chaparral | 2 |
| 04/07/25 vs Chaparral | 2 |
| 04/05/25 vs Horizon | 1 |
| + 1 more games |
Zach Durben was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He is becoming a predictor of Desert Mountain's success: when he allows at most one hit the team is 4-2 (and 8-12 when he doesn't). Durben was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played.
In other batting news, Riyan Patel was excellent, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI and one double. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Everett Hagen, who went 1-for-2 with two runs and one double.
Meanwhile, Horizon faced Chaparral in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Huskies walked away with a 9-4 win over the Firebirds.
Like Desert Mountain, Horizon also got a great game from a two-way player: Ethan Trahan. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off one hit. Trahan was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Quinn Robbins, who went 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Chris Quigg, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and one RBI.
Horizon always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .553. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Chaparral only posted an OBP of .300.
Desert Mountain's record now sits at 12-14. As for Horizon, their record is now 17-8.
Desert Mountain couldn't quite finish off Horizon when the teams last played on April 5th and fell 6-4. Can the Wolves avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
