The Chino Valley Cougars will head out on the road to challenge the ALA - West Foothills Guardians at 3:45 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.
Chino Valley's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. They were the clear victors by an 11-0 margin over Highland Prep. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Cougars.
Kinsey Murphy
| 04/21/25 vs Highland Prep | 12 |
| 04/17/25 vs Parker | 7 |
| 04/15/25 @ River Valley | 7 |
| 04/14/25 vs Kingman | 18 |
| 04/09/25 @ Winslow | 10 |
| + 6 more games |
Kinsey Murphy made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 12 over five innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in 11 consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with two RBI.
In other batting news, Chino Valley let Aden Hubble and Jordan Mortensen run wild. Hubble went 2-for-4 with three stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI, while Mortensen went a perfect 2-for-2 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI. That's the most hits Mortensen has posted since back in March. Jamie Felton was another key player, going 3-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
Chino Valley always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .533. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Highland Prep only posted an OBP of .118.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask ALA - West Foothills). They were the clear victors by a 26-0 margin over Highland Prep on Thursday. The Guardians might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 12 games by ten runs or more this season.
Ava LaHair made a splash no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, tossing two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. LaHair was also big at the plate, going a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs, one double, and one RBI.
In other batting news, ALA - West Foothills got a massive performance out of Ave Risati, who fired off two home runs, three runs, and four RBI while going 3-for-3. Another player making a difference was Alyssa Hovanec, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, six RBI, and two runs.
ALA - West Foothills is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 14-7 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 15.0 runs over those games. As for Chino Valley, their win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 12-9.
ALA - West Foothills' hitters will have their work cut out for them on Wednesday. Chino Valley has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.2 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for ALA - West Foothills, though, as they've been averaging an even more impressive 3.9 strikeouts. Will Chino Valley keep running through batters, or will the Guardians buck the trend?
Chino Valley couldn't quite get it done against ALA - West Foothills in their previous matchup back in March as they fell 5-1. Can the Cougars avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
