The Mountain Pointe Pride will head out to face off against the Chaparral Firebirds at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Mountain Pointe was handed a 18-run loss in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Tuesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-3 victory over Ironwood. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Pride have posted since April 10, 2024.
Carlos Mungaray made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over four innings pitched. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in strikeouts. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with one home run and one double.
In other batting news, Ivan Lopez was incredible, scoring a run and stealing Two bases. while going 4-for-4. That run was his first of the season. Another player making a difference was Noa Ybarra, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one double and one RBI.
Mountain Pointe was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .387. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, it was close, but on Tuesday Chaparral sidestepped Willow Canyon for a 5-3 victory. The win continues a trend for the Firebirds in their matchups with the Wildcats: they've now won three in a row.
Chaparral also got a great performance from Devin Long as he struck out nine batters over 6.1 innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off four hits (and only one walk).
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Jahir Jensen, who scored a run while going 2-for-2. Gavin Mesa was another key player, scoring a run while going 1-for-4.
Mountain Pointe's record is now 2-3. As for Chaparral, they now have a winning record of 3-2.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Mountain Pointe has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Chaparral struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.8 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Mountain Pointe skirted past Chaparral 6-5 when the teams last played back in February of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for Mountain Pointe since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
