Softball Recap: Arizona College Prep Comes Up Short in High-Profile Game with Notre Dame Prep

Arizona College Prep faced Notre Dame Prep in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Knights fell just short of the Saints by a score of 3-2. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Saints this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 3-0 on Tuesday.

Liliana Gagnon was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out seven over five innings pitched.

At the plate, Samantha Sherman made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and went 3-for-4 with one home run. Another player making a difference was Taylor Estrella, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.

This is the second loss in a row for Arizona College Prep and nudges their season record down to 21-7. Those defeats can't be blamed on the team's pitching effort, having only surrendered a grand total of 6 runs in those games. As for Notre Dame Prep, they pushed their record up to 19-6 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road.

Coming up, Arizona College Prep will welcome Desert Edge at 3:45 p.m. on Monday. As for Notre Dame Prep, they will venture away from home to square off against Campo Verde at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The Coyotes have struggled to contain batters this season (they've allowed 7.27 runs per game on average), something the Saints will no doubt try to take advantage of.