Softball Preview: Red Mountain Mountain Lions vs. Sunnyside Blue Devils
The Red Mountain Mountain Lions will look to defend their home field on Thursday against the Sunnyside Blue Devils at 4:00 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Red Mountain: 1.7, Sunnyside: 3.1) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Red Mountain is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Arizona's top teams: Shadow Ridge, who was ranked 20th in their home state at the time (Red Mountain was ranked fifth). Red Mountain came out on top against Shadow Ridge by a score of 6-1 on Tuesday.
Kendall Cochran spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered one run (which was unearned) on three hits and racked up 11 Ks. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in nine consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Sophia Marquez was incredible, getting on base in all four of her plate appearances with a home run, three RBI, and two runs. Victoria Montenegro was another key contributor, getting on base in all four of her plate appearances with two doubles.
Meanwhile, Sunnyside fell victim to Xavier College Prep and their airtight pitching crew on Wednesday. They lost 10-0 to the Gators. Having soared to a lofty ten runs in the game before, Sunnyside's shutout was a dramatic turnaround.
Red Mountain has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 14 of their last 15 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 26-3 record this season. As for Sunnyside, their loss dropped their record down to 21-8.
Thursday's game will be a test for both team's pitchers. Red Mountain hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .380. However, it's not like Sunnyside struggles in that department as they've averaged .341. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Red Mountain beat Sunnyside 4-0 when the teams last played back in May of 2023. Will Red Mountain repeat their success, or does Sunnyside have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
