Baseball Game Preview: Walden Grove Red Wolves vs. Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks

The Walden Grove Red Wolves will head out on the road to square off against the Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.

Walden Grove will roll into the contest after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up one run on Thursday, then bounced right back against Eastmark on Friday. The Red Wolves sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 10-8 victory over the Firebirds. The high-scoring performance was a welcome turnaround for the Red Wolves' hitters, who had struggled in the games prior.

Angel Armenta

Runs

04/09/25 vs Mica Mountain	3
02/26/25 vs Sabino	3
04/18/25 vs Eastmark	2
04/02/25 @ Sahuaro	2
03/04/25 @ Flowing Wells	2
+ 6 more games

The team relied heavily on Angel Armenta, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. He has become a key player for Walden Grove: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 6-9 otherwise. Marcus Baray was another key player, going a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI, one run, and one double.

They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Walden Grove kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. They are 6-1 when they post 11 or more hits.

Meanwhile, Ironwood Ridge had already won six in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.7 runs) and they went ahead and made it seven on Thursday. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 9-8 W against the Cougars.

Ironwood Ridge pushed their record up to 19-6 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.3 runs over those games. As for Walden Grove, their win bumped their record up to 11-9.