Baseball Game Preview: Gilbert Tigers vs. Higley Knights

The Gilbert Tigers will head out to challenge the Higley Knights at 6:00 p.m. on Monday.

Gilbert is headed into the contest having just suffered their closest defeat since March 3rd on Thursday. They fell just short of Queen Creek by a score of 8-6.

Gilbert got a big performance out of Hayden Leach, who scored a run while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Brady Carlin, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Higley, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Highland on Thursday, sneaking past 2-0.

The result came thanks to Jet Gonzalez's shutout, as he gave up just three hits. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Higley is 6-1 when he allows at most three earned runs, but 7-8 otherwise.

At the plate, Higley saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Blake Daly, who scored a run while going 2-for-3. Those two hits gave Daly a new career-high.

Higley pushed their record up to 13-9 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.8 runs over those games. As for Gilbert, they have been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 8-13 record this season.

Gilbert took their win against Higley in their previous meeting back in February of 2023 by a conclusive 13-3 score. Will the Tigers repeat their success, or do the Knights have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.