Baseball Game Preview: Verrado Vipers vs. Buckeye Hawks

The Verrado Vipers will square off against the Buckeye Hawks at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Verrado has six straight victories, Buckeye has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

On Wednesday, Verrado got the win against Desert Edge by a conclusive 14-1. The result was nothing new for the Vipers, who have now won six matchups by six runs or more so far this season.

Colton Zacher made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out 11 batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (and not a single walk). He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in six consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.

Aaron Gutierrez

Runs Batted In (Career)

04/09/25 vs Desert Edge	3
04/02/25 vs North Canyon	2
03/27/25 vs Mountain View	2
03/01/25 vs Pinnacle	2
03/20/24 vs Westview	2

In other batting news, Verrado let Aaron Gutierrez and Eli Bebleh run wild. Gutierrez scored a run while going 3-for-3, while Bebleh scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3. The dominant performance also gave Gutierrez a new career-high in RBI (three). Bode Acton was another key player, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.

Verrado hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their strikeout total in four consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Buckeye fell victim to Youngker and their airtight pitching crew on Wednesday. They lost 10-0 to the Roughriders. The contest marked the first time this season in which the Hawks were not able to get on the board.

Verrado's win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 12-5-1. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.2 runs on average over those games. As for Buckeye, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-11.

Verrado beat Buckeye 5-1 when the teams last played on Monday. Do the Vipers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Hawks turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.