Baseball Game Preview: Camelback Spartans vs. Maryvale Panthers

For the second straight game, Camelback will face off against Maryvale. The Spartans are taking a road trip to square off against the Panthers at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. Camelback is looking for their season's first victory.

Camelback lost 31-7 to Maryvale on Tuesday.

For Maryvale's part, Christian Valdez made a splash while hitting and pitching. He struck out six batters over five innings while giving up three earned (and four unearned) runs off eight hits. Those six strikeouts gave Valdez a new career-high. He was even better at the plate, scoring four runs and stealing four bases while getting on base in five of his seven plate appearances. Maryvale is undefeated when Valdez posts two or more stolen bases, but 1-7 otherwise.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Nathan Benavidez, who scored four runs and stole two bases while getting on base in five of his six plate appearances. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in hits (three). Another player making a difference was Axel Aguilar, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and four RBI.

Maryvale always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .792. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

The win snapped Maryvale's losing streak at four games and leaves them with a 4-7 record. As for Camelback, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-13.