Softball Recap: Ironwood Ridge Drops Season-High Score on Rio Rico

Nighthawks

Margin (Wins)

03/10/25 @ Rio Rico	17
03/06/25 vs ALA - Gilbert North	15
03/04/25 vs Buena	10
02/28/25 vs Greenway	9
02/28/25 vs Centennial	6

Winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Ironwood Ridge). They blew past the Rio Rico Hawks 19-2 on Monday. The Nighthawks might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five contests by six runs or more this season.

Brooklyn Wilson and Teah Valencia were a major factor no matter where they played. On the mound, Wilson tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Meanwhile, Valencia pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. That's the first time she hasn't allowed a single hit since back in April of 2024. At the plate, Wilson scored a run while going 2-for-2, while Valencia scored three runs while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances. Those three runs gave Valencia a new career-high.

In other batting news, Mia Gutierrez was a standout: she fired off two home runs and four RBI while going 2-for-2. Another player making a difference was Elizabeth Smith, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs.

Ironwood Ridge always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .571. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Rio Rico only posted an OBP of .118.

The win made it two in a row for Ironwood Ridge and bumps their season record up to 6-2. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to strikeouts: they averaged an imposing seven strikeouts in those games compared to only 2.83 in the others. As for Rio Rico, they dropped their record down to 0-3 with the defeat, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season.

Looking ahead, Ironwood Ridge will take on Coronado in a tournament on Thursday. As for Rio Rico, they will host Sabino at 6:00 p.m. on March 17th.