The Show Low Cougars will face off against the Payson Longhorns at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.
The home team had won the previous three meetings between Show Low and Snowflake, and Snowflake kept the tradition alive. The Cougars fell just short of the Lobos by a score of 5-4 on Friday. The contest marked the Cougars' lowest-scoring game so far this season.
Meanwhile, while Payson put up plenty of runs on Tuesday, the same can't be said for Apache Junction. The Longhorns put the hurt on the Prospectors with a sharp 21-0 win. Considering the Longhorns have won six matchups by more than six runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Kinikki Smith made a big impact no matter where she played. She didn't allow a single earned run while striking out seven over four innings pitched. She has been consistent: she hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with three runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. Those three runs gave her a new career-high.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Logann Prock, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, four runs, and two stolen bases. That's the most runs she has posted since back in February. The team also got some help courtesy of Danica Peters, who went 3-for-4 with one home run and six RBI.
Payson always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .622. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Apache Junction only posted an OBP of .333.
Payson is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 9-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.9 runs on average over those games. As for Show Low, their loss ended a seven-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 14-2.
Show Low got the 'W' in their previous meeting back in April of 2025 against Payson by a conclusive 20-2 score. Will the Cougars repeat their success, or do the Longhorns have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
