Baseball Game Preview: Perry Pumas vs. Queen Creek Bulldogs

The Perry Pumas will head out to challenge the Queen Creek Bulldogs at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Perry is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Arizona's top teams: Williams Field, who was ranked 18th at the time (Perry was ranked seventh). Perry blew past Williams Field 9-1 on Monday. The result was nothing new for the Pumas, who have now won six games by six runs or more so far this season.

Michael Orbegozo

Batters Struck Out

02/26/25 vs Mesquite	6
03/10/25 vs Mountain View	6
03/03/25 @ Sunnyslope	8
03/17/25 vs Williams Field	11

Michael Orbegozo spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on five hits and racked up 11 Ks. Those 11 strikeouts set a new season-high mark for him.

On the hitting side, Max DeFrancesco was incredible, going 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Luke Calendo, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3.

Meanwhile, Queen Creek had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.5 runs) and they went ahead and made it five on Monday. They walked away with a 5-1 victory over the Bears. That's two games straight that the Bulldogs have won by exactly four runs.

Perry pushed their record up to 10-2 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.5 runs on average over those games. As for Queen Creek, their victory bumped their record up to 6-1.

Perry couldn't quite get it done against Queen Creek when the teams last played back in May of 2023 as they fell 3-0. Can Perry avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.