Baseball Preview: Bagdad Sultans vs. Mogollon Mustangs
Bagdad is on a nine-game streak of home wins, while Mogollon is on a five-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Bagdad Sultans will take on the Mogollon Mustangs at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Bagdad is hoping to deliver their fans another blowout on Saturday, just like they did against Ash Fork (and have done all season long). Bagdad beat Ash Fork on Saturday by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 15-0. Bagdad's pitching crew has been rock solid lately; the team hasn't given up a run in their last five matches.
Nick Martinez made a splash no matter where he played. He kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits over four innings pitched. Martinez has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in three consecutive pitching appearances. Martinez was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
In other batting news, Joe Gonzalez was a standout: he scored three runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-2. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Destry Owings, who went 3-for-3 with two stolen bases and five RBI.
Meanwhile, while Mogollon put up some runs on Saturday, the same can't be said for Valley Union. Mogollon had just enough and edged Valley Union out 1-0.
The result came thanks to Hadley Porter's shutout, as he gave up just two hits and racked up nine Ks.
On the hitting side, Mogollon's win was truly a team effort as three different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Kyson Owens, who went 1-for-3 with a triple and an RBI.
Bagdad is on a roll lately: they've won 16 of their last 17 contests, which somehow isn't as good as their 24-1-1 record this season. As for Mogollon, their victory bumped their record up to 14-7.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Saturday as neither team is afraid to steal. Bagdad has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 5.9 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Mogollon struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.2. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Bagdad took their win against Mogollon when the teams last played back in March by a conclusive 12-5. Will Bagdad repeat their success, or does Mogollon have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
