vs
| 05/03/24 - Away | 13-12 W |
| 05/26/23 - Neutral | 3-4 L |
| 05/05/23 - Home | 1-2 L |
| 04/29/22 - Home | 6-12 L |
| 05/21/21 - Away | 2-1 W |
| + 5 more games |
Mountain Vista and Rock Canyon are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2015, but likely not for long. The Golden Eagles will be playing in front of their home fans against the Jaguars at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Mountain Vista is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Colorado's top teams: Regis Jesuit, who was ranked fourth at the time (Mountain Vista was ranked seventh). The Golden Eagles were the clear victors by a 12-1 margin over the Raiders on Monday. The Golden Eagles' hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Mountain Vista got a great performance from Chase Ruden as he pitched five innings while giving up just one earned run off five hits. Those hits marked the first that Ruden allowed this season.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Alex King, who scored a run while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Jackson Crawford was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one triple, one run, and one RBI.
Mountain Vista was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .455. The last time their batting average was this high was back in May of 2024.
Meanwhile, Rock Canyon beat Heritage 12-9 on Monday. The Jaguars haven't had any issues with the Eagles recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive victory against them.
Damian Fischer was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He tossed five innings while giving up three earned runs off seven hits. Fischer was even better at the plate, going 3-for-4 with five RBI, three doubles, and one run. He has become a key player for Rock Canyon: the team is undefeated when he posts at least three RBI, but 3-4 otherwise.
In other pitching news, Will Wendeborn looked comfortable as he pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Rock Canyon is undefeated when Wendeborn allows one or fewer earned runs, but 3-4 otherwise.
Back at the plate, Rock Canyon got a massive performance out of Zach Perry, who scored four runs and stole a base while going 3-for-5. Perry is becoming a predictor of the Jaguars' success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 5-1 (and 1-3 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Thomas Shank, who went 2-for-3 with two triples and two runs.
The win (which was Mountain Vista's fourth in a row) raised their record to 7-5. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.3 runs over those games. As for Rock Canyon, their win bumped their record up to 6-4.
Mountain Vista came out on top in a nail-biter against Rock Canyon when the teams last played back in May of 2024, sneaking past 13-12. Do the Golden Eagles have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Jaguars turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
