Softball Preview: Cienega Bobcats vs. Willow Canyon Wildcats
Cienega is 0-3 against Willow Canyon since April of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Wednesday. The Cienega Bobcats will head out on the road to take on the Willow Canyon Wildcats at 6:30 p.m. Both teams have allowed few runs on average, (Cienega: 3, Willow Canyon: 3.5) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Cienega took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-3 win over Higley.
Cienega got a great performance from Kylie Bristol as she struck out seven batters over 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off five hits.
At the plate, Cienega saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Maya Fimbres, who scored a run while going 1-for-3. Fimbres has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than one walk in nine consecutive pitching appearances.
Meanwhile, Willow Canyon unfortunately witnessed the end of their 15-game winning streak on Saturday. They lost 9-2 to Desert Mountain.
Izzy Ray was cooking despite her team's loss, going 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI.
Cienega has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 15 of their last 17 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 21-7 record this season. As for Willow Canyon, their defeat ended a 19-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 24-8.
Wednesday's contest will be a test for both team's pitchers. Cienega hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .408. However, it's not like Willow Canyon struggles in that department as they've averaged .397. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Cienega came up short against Willow Canyon in their previous matchup on Tuesday, falling 5-0. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Willow Canyon's Aubrey Kautman, who didn't allow a single earned run over seven innings pitched. Now that Cienega knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
