Parkland hasn't had much luck against Lubbock-Cooper recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Matadors will welcome the Pirates at 4:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Parkland is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Canutillo a 13-0 shutout. The victory was familiar territory for the Matadors, who have now won three contests in a row.
Samantha Martinez
| 04/25/25 @ Canutillo | 11 |
| 04/15/25 vs Americas | 17 |
| 04/12/25 @ El Dorado | 10 |
| 04/09/25 @ Hanks | 15 |
| 04/02/25 vs Bel Air | 10 |
| + 9 more games |
Samantha Martinez made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in 14 consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with one RBI.
In other batting news, Stephanie Flores was a standout: she went a perfect 4-for-4 with four runs, three RBI, and two doubles. Those four runs gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Olympia Castillo, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with five RBI, one stolen base, and one run.
Parkland was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .562. They are a perfect 14-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Meanwhile, Lubbock-Cooper got the win against Memorial on Friday by a conclusive 14-4. That's two games straight that the Pirates have won by exactly ten runs.
Brooklyn Ray looked comfortable as she struck out seven batters over four innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (and only one walk).
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on McKanna Garcia, who went 4-for-5 with one home run, three RBI, and one double. Gabbi Hernandez was another key player, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with three runs, two RBI, and one double.
Lubbock-Cooper is on a roll lately: they've won 18 of their last 19 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 26-5 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.7 runs on average over those games. As for Parkland, their victory bumped their record up to 20-14.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Parkland hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like Lubbock-Cooper struggles in that department as they've been averaging 1.1 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
