Baseball Game Preview: Sunnyslope Vikings vs. Basha Bears

The Sunnyslope Vikings will head out on the road to challenge the Basha Bears at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. Sunnyslope will be strutting in after a victory while Basha will be coming in after a defeat.

Sunnyslope was handed a nine-run loss in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Wednesday. They had just enough and edged out Cherokee Trail 8-7.

Bryan Mares

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03/06/25 @ Shadow Ridge	2
02/27/25 @ Horizon	2
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Bryan Mares was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-3. Sunnyslope is undefeated when Mares posts three or more hits, but 2-8 otherwise. Liam Marschall also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.

Mares wasn't the only one working in the hit department: Sunnyslope kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. Sunnyslope is a perfect 3-0 when they post 11 or more hits.

Meanwhile, Wednesday just wasn't the day for Basha's offense. They fell 5-0 to Desert Vista on Wednesday. The Bears have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Basha also got a good showing from Sawyer Palevsky, who pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits. The dominant performance also gave Palevsky a new career-high in strikeouts (five).

Sunnyslope's win bumped their record up to 5-8. As for Basha, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-4-1.

Sunnyslope was able to grind out a solid victory over Basha in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, winning 7-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for Sunnyslope since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.