The Highland Prep Honey Badgers will venture away from home to square off against the Kingman Bulldogs at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Highland Prep is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They walked away with a 10-5 win over Highland Prep West on Monday. The high-scoring performance was a welcome turnaround for the Honey Badgers' hitters, who had struggled in the games prior.
Elijah Rodda
| 04/21/25 vs Highland Prep West | 11 |
| 02/28/25 @ Madison Highland Prep | 8 |
| 02/23/24 vs Madison Highland Prep | 7 |
| 03/25/25 @ ALA - West Foothills | 5 |
| 03/11/24 vs Palo Verde | 5 |
Elijah Rodda made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out 11 batters over 4.2 innings while giving up four earned runs off five hits. Those 11 strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs. Those runs marked the first that he has scored this season.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on David Kilgore, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI. Those two stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Max Henderson also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.
Highland Prep always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .686. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
The home team had won the previous four meetings between Kingman and Odyssey Institute, and Kingman kept the tradition alive. The Bulldogs were the clear victors by an 8-1 margin over the Minotaur on Monday. Considering the Bulldogs have won nine games by more than five runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.
Codey Padilla spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on two hits and racked up 12 Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Canton Collins was excellent, going 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double. Another player making a difference was Cash Collins, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one run.
Kingman has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 17-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.6 runs over those games. Highland Prep's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-10.
Highland Prep might still be hurting after the 28-0 loss they got from Kingman when the teams last played on April 4th. Can the Honey Badgers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
