Baseball Game Preview: River Valley Dust Devils vs. Chino Valley Cougars

River Valley is 2-8 against Chino Valley since March of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Dust Devils will be playing in front of their home fans against the Cougars at 5:00 p.m. River Valley is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.4 runs per game this season.

Chino Valley will be up against a hot River Valley squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. The Dust Devils never let Highland Prep get on the board and left with a 19-0 victory on Monday. The Dust Devils' hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.

Mickey Gonzalez

Runs Batted In (Career)

04/14/25 @ Highland Prep	5
03/19/25 @ Kingman	4
04/03/25 vs Parker	3
04/02/25 vs Odyssey Institute	3
04/11/25 vs Tonopah Valley	2

The team relied heavily on Mickey Gonzalez, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with two stolen bases, five RBI, and three runs. Those five RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Hunter Koehler, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3.

River Valley always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .750. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Highland Prep only posted an OBP of .143.

For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Chino Valley and Kingman meet (four straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Monday. The Cougars lost 14-6 to the Bulldogs.

Jacob Boivin made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored a run while going 2-for-4. Luke Olson was another key player, scoring two runs while going 1-for-2.

River Valley's win bumped their record up to 12-4-2. As for Chino Valley, they dropped their record down to 6-9-1 with the loss, which was their fourth straight at home.

The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Tuesday as neither team is afraid to steal. River Valley has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.3 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Chino Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 2.8 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.

Everything went River Valley's way against Chino Valley in their previous meeting back in March, as River Valley made off with an 8-2 victory. Will the Dust Devils repeat their success, or do the Cougars have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.